


The New Hellmouth: The Nogitsune

by iKnightWriter



Series: The New Hellmouth [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Argent and Isaac Lahey friendship, Alpha Scott McCall, Charmed References, Demonic Possession, Derek Feels, Derek and Stiles are Mates, Derek is the King of Stiles' Board, Female Stiles Stilinski, Flashbacks, Gen, Hallucinations, Isaac Lahey & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Lost of Time, Magic!Stiles, Minor Character(s), Nemeton, Nice Peter?, Reapers, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Soul Bond, Stilinski Family Feels, The Nogitsune - Freeform, not sure what else to tag, season 3b remake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-11 08:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 86,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2061222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iKnightWriter/pseuds/iKnightWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott, Stiles and Allison suffer side effects from the ritual sacrifice while a mass murderer is on the loose and demonic warriors seem to be targeting the pack. Relationships are formed while Allies are made and tested.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anchors pt.1

**Author's Note:**

> This is it guys the final season of the New Hellmouth! It's been a hale of a ride with the comments/reviews and support! You guys are the best! In honor for the premiere you'll get the first FOUR chapters today and tmrw, but starting next week it'll be part 1 on Fridays and part 2 on Saturdays. Things as always are quite different and I'm still in the middle of writing out the season so, who knows maybe I'll change even more than I already have...but for now enjoy part 1! Part 2 will be up later on today!

Stiles Stilinski was in her bedroom asleep. She kept tossing and turning and gripping the sheets as if she was having a nightmare. In a way she probably was considering how it was not the only thing she was doing. She was even mumbling, "No, no, no, no, no Don't let them in." She turned to her side on her bed, found herself awake and trapped in a locker. She could tell there was someone out just outside of it, but they disappeared without a trance. She managed to push out of the locker, only to find herself at the school at night, completely alone. Whoever, it was is long gone, but there was a classroom with a door opened.

From the door, she could hear the sound of humming coming from the room. As she slowly made her way to the door, she peered into the classroom and sees the Nemeton in dead center, growing out from the room. She walked slowly over to it getting a chilled feeling. As she reached out to touch the Nemeton, thick vines shot out of the stump and wrapped around her hand.

Stiles suddenly woke up with gasping breathes and Isaac appearing right next to her. "You okay?" Isaac asked her, but Stiles was still trying to catch her breath, "Stiles?"

"Yeah, I was just dreaming." She managed to tell him. "It was like a dream within a dream."

"A nightmare?"

"Yeah," Stiles sighed out and now was able to breathe normally, "Wait a second," Stiles found it weird that Isaac is even in her room because Isaac never has been to her room. In fact, Stiles was certain that he didn't know where she lived. She faced Isaac with a confused expression, "Isaac, what are you doing here?"

Before Isaac even had a chance to speak Stiles' door creaks opened. "Hang on." She told him. She got up and walked towards the door.

"Stiles, where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna close the door."

"Just go back to sleep."

"No, no," Stiles told him, shaking her head, "I should close it."

"Don't worry about it."

"What if someone comes in?"

"Like who?" Isaac asked her, "Just go back to sleep, Stiles." But Stiles continued to walk slowly to tell it, ignoring Isaac's protests, “Stiles come back to bed.”

"But what if they get in?"

"What if who gets in?" Isaac suddenly sounding upset, "Stiles, just leave it. I told Derek I would take care of you."

"I didn't know you and him were on a talking bases," Stiles voiced, but she doesn't break her trail of getting to the door.

"Please. Stiles. Stiles, come back to bed." Stiles suddenly had the urge to see what was on the other side of the door and Isaac was still calling out to her, "Don't! Don't go in there, please, don't. Please, Stiles, don't!" The last "don't!" sounded exactly like Derek's voice.

Before Stiles even has a chance of turning back, Stiles found herself outside on the lacrosse field with the Nemeton, once again. She could feel and hear her heart pounding, "It's a dream." Stiles realized, "This is just a dream. Come on, get it out of your head, Stiles." This wasn't the first time she had to do it, "You're dreaming. All right? So, wake up, Stiles. Wake up, Stiles. Wake up!"

* * *

Stiles opened her eyes only to have the sun shining in her face and hear the sounds of bird chirping from outside. "Hey, time to get up, kiddo." Her dad suddenly popped his head into her room, "Get your butt to school."

Stiles took a breath of relief. Without any more mishaps Stiles managed gave Scott the rundown of what happened to her. "And you couldn't wake up?" Scott questioned.

"Nope, and it was beyond terrifying." Stiles admitted, "You ever hear of sleep  _paralysis_?"

"Uh, no, do I want to?"

"Have you ever had a dream where you feel like you're about to wake up but you can't move or talk?"

"Yeah." Scott nodded and they both stop at the top of the stairs, "Yeah, I've had that." Stiles noticed the confused expression Scott had on his face though.

"It happens because during REM sleep your body is basically paralyzed." She explained, "It's called muscle atonia. That way if you start dreaming about running, you don't actually start running in your bed."

"That makes sense."

"But sometimes your mind can wake up before your body does. So for this split second, you're actually  _aware_  that your body is paralyzed."

"And that's the  _terrifying_  part." Scott realized.

"It turns your dream into a  _nightmare_." She informed him, "You can feel like you're falling, like you're being strangled, or, in my case, like you're at the center of a grove of magical trees where human sacrifices took place."

"You think it means something?"

"I really hoped that it would've been over by now," Stiles confessed, "What if what we did that night is still affecting us?"

"Post-traumatic stress?"

"Or something." She added, "But you want to know what scares me the most?" Stiles asked him, before looking right at him, "I'm not even sure  _this_  is real."

Just like that, Stiles shot up from her bed in her room screaming and Sheriff Stilinski rushed into her room, holding onto her tightly.

* * *

Scott McCall was gathering up his books, preparing for school. He turned toward the door and caught sight of his shadow and noticed something off about it. His "shadow hand" seemed to be a claw. Scott quickly looked at his hand and sees that it had remained untransformed. He closed and opened his hand the false shadow was gone. As he opened his door, he came face to face with Isaac Lahey.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Um, are you going to school?" Isaac asked in an uncomfortable tone.

"Yeah."

"Are you angry at me?"

"No. Why?"

"Derek pretty much chewed me out on the whole Stiles thing." Isaac explained, "And I assume that the whole spending time with Allison thing would bother you."

"No, you helped us out," Scott assured him, "You're good in my book."

"Okay." Isaac rubbed the back of his head, "Do you think he hates me?"

"No, of course not." Scott assured him, "If anything he probably mad at himself. I wasn't aware that the two of you were on talking terms."

"It's a work in progress," Isaac nodded at the statement, before walking away, "By the way, you still owe me some Mexican."

* * *

As Stiles readied herself for school, packing books into her backpack, she realized something strange. The book she had in her hand, she could no longer read it. The title read "DALESI XIS ANLA" with the subtitle "DOL WTAR I AWND RHIE WUTTRNRRIENLA SAOTRGLE FGO TPONE"

"Hey." Stiles jumped at the sound invasion of the Sheriff's voice looking over at him, "You all right? You ready for school?"

Stiles looked back at the book, it now read. "ALLIES AND AXIS" "WORLD WAR II AND THE INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE FOR POWER"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." She lied easily, but she could see the unsure look on his face, "Dad, seriously, I'm fine." She assured him putting the book away, "It was just a nightmare." She turned to face him once more and noticed that he was carrying a box. "What's that?"

"That's just, uh, files from the office." He told her offhandedly.

"It says "Sheriff's station, do not remove."" She pointed out to him.

"Well, yeah, unless you're the Sheriff."

"Oh, snarky Dad."

The Sheriff ignored Stiles' comment, "Get your butt to school, all right?"

* * *

Allison Argent was already in rush, "Gotta run, Dad. I'm late!" Allison left her apartment and entered the elevator. In a matter of seconds, the air became much colder and the lighting began to dim. When the doors open she found herself in the basement of Beacon Hills Hospital. The building was damaged with flickering florescent bulbs, broken furniture, and debris littering the corridor. She entered the morgue, water dripping onto every surface. The door closed behind her.

One of the corpse drawers pops open and the card on the front reads "CASE NO. 113/NAME OF DECEASED: KATE ARGENT/ PLACE OF DEATH (CITY): BEACON HILLS/PHYSICIAN: Dr. R. Smith" Her mind flashed back to when Kate was killed by Peter Hale.

She opened the drawer and looks inside. It seems endless, stretching back endlessly. The sound of creaking metal heralds the arrival of a dirty and screaming Kate Argent, crawling spider like, up the narrow conduit. Allison turn to run but as she pushed open the morgue door, she found herself in the school hallway. No clue as to how she had gotten there. Landon Martin appeared by her side.

"Allison, are you okay?" He asked her with a worried expression, Allison wanted to lie at first but quickly shook her head.

Scott arrived at school on his dirt bike. He caught another glimpse of his reflection from the side view mirrors, his eyes were glowing red. He shook his head and his reflection returns to normal. As he walked across the quad, his shadow appeared to be that of a The Alpha Werewolf. He freaked even more and began to run down the stairs toward the tunnel that led to the athletic fields.

He ended up running into Stiles, "Hey, Scott you all right?" She asked after seeing his scared expression. Scott gave her a nod of the head. "You don't look all right, Scott."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not." Stiles told him with confidence, "It's happening to you too. You're seeing things, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?" Scott asked.

"Because it's happening to all three of you." Landon told them appearing from behind.

* * *

At his office, Sheriff Stilinski was working on an elaborate "murder board" that was covered with calendars, images and sticky notes with thumbtacked pieces of string connecting it all together. The Sheriff pinned a picture of a boy with auburn hair to the board. This triggered a flashback of an overturned car with a bloody hand reaching from the back seat passenger side window. A post-it note reading "Micah Tate" was attached to the boy's photo.

Back at the school, "Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one." Landon said in a playful manner. The four had just walked inside the school heading to class.

"We're not crazy." Allison told him even though she wasn't sure if she believed that herself.

"Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis?" Landon pointed out, "Yeah, you guys are fine." He said in a mocking tone.

"We did die and come back to life." Scott told them, "That's gotta have some side effects, right?" Allison and Stiles looked at him reluctantly. Deaton did warn them of the cost that came with it. Before anyone has a chance to say anything the school rang, signaling that class was about to start.

"We keep an eye on each other. Okay?" Stiles told Scott and Allison, who easily agreed. She then turned her attention to Landon, "And Landon, stop enjoying this so much."

"What?" He asked innocently.

Stiles and Scott were in their history class with a new teacher they had never seen before. "Good morning, everyone." A Japanese man greeted them, "My name is Mr. Yukimura. I'll be taking over for your previous History Teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira." He looked over his class and saw a mass of confused faces, "Or you might not since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or brought a friend home for that matter."

Behind them, Scott and Stiles both hear someone sighing in the background followed by a head bumping against the desk. They turn to see the girl trying to hide from her father's call out with an embarrassing smile. She gave them a weak smile.

"Either way, there she is." Another thump to the desk, "Now, let's begin with American History at the turn of the 20th century." Scott and Stiles both turn their attention back to the front of the class, but Scott caught sight of his shadow and could see that his hand had taken the formation of a claw.

In the art classroom, Allison's hand was shaking as she tried to maneuver a red paint tipped brush to the art paper suspended from an easel "Not the steadiest hand for a  _superb_  marksman." Landon noticed standing at his easel.

"It's been happening for the past few weeks." Allison admitted, "Since that night." She threw down the brush which splashed red paint onto the paper. This triggered the memory Kate's murder once again, the arterial blood splatter when Peter Hale slashed her throat. She also flashed back to her hallucination of Kate rushing toward her in the morgue.

Landon goes over to her side and ripped off the ruined page. "Start over." He demanded her. Allison took a deep breath and somehow managed to have more control over the brush. From across the room, Isaac overheard everything.

* * *

Stiles was struggling with her locker combination because for some reason she couldn't seem to get it opened. "Maybe we need a little more time to get back to normal." Scott reasoned to her.

Stiles continued struggling with the lock, "Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a  _supernatural beacon_  for supernatural creatures." Stiles reminded him, "There's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal." She gave another tug to the lock. As Stiles look at her locker, her vision began to shift as the numbers have transformed into rune-like symbols.

"Yeah." Scott realized, with his enhanced hearing two voices caught his attention. He recognized them as Mr. Yukimura and Kira.

"I thought you said you  _wanted_  to make friends." Mr. Yukimura asked Kira.

"Not like  _that."_  Kira countered. She was still clearly embarrassed about what happened in their history class.

"You said you wanted to be noticed."

"I could set myself on fire and not be noticed."

"Well, then you'd be dead."

"Exactly." She walked away in an upset manner. Scott turned his attention back to Stiles. The number on Stiles' lock have finally returned back to normal, but she quickly noticed that Scott was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Oh, dude, your eyes." She hissed at him.

"What about them?"

"They're starting to glow."

"You mean like right now?" Scott asked in a panic tone.

Scott's eyes were glowing the Alpha red, "Yes, right now." Stiles whispered at him. She looked around to make sure that they weren't drawing attention to themselves, "Scott, stop. Stop it."

Scott suddenly began to breathe really hard. He slowly realized that he was beginning to shift, "I can't." Scott realized, "I can't control it."

Stiles looked around worriedly and came up with an idea, "All right, just keep your head down." She even shoved his head under her arm and quickly guides him to an empty classroom, "Look down, come on." She instructed him as they made their way to the empty room.

Scott began to feel his control slipping, just as Stiles locks them inside the room. "Get back away from me." Scott growled at her, his eyes still glowing red.

"Scott, it's okay." Stiles told him steadily. This made her mind go back to the first time Scott shifted in front of her, but she shook the memory away.

"I don't know what's going to happen." Scott lets out. He pushed against a couple of desk, "Get back."

Stiles backed away, but still didn't leave the room. Scott continued to pant and grunt as he struggles with the shift. A distance lesson, randomly popped into his mind, as he buried his claws into the palms of his hands drawing blood and regaining control himself. "Pain makes you human." Scott recited, looking over at Stiles' shocked expression.

Stiles moved to the floor beside him, "Scott, this isn't just in our heads." She told him, "This is real. And it's starting to get bad for me too." Stiles confessed, "I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to  _literally_  scream myself awake. And sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm actually ever waking up."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked her.

"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming?" She asked him. Scott shook his head, "You can't read in dreams. More and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order."

"Like even now?"

Stiles gazed around the classroom and all of the posters and the notes on the black board are all nonsense, gibberish, "I can't read a thing."

* * *

Allison and Landon were out in the Preserve. Allison was armed with her bow, while Landon pinned a target sheet on a tree. "Do you really think this is going to help?" Allison questioned him.

"I know that if you think it's not going to help it definitely won't." He countered. He makes his way to her side. "So get your head into it, shoot a few and see what happens." He encouraged her. Allison fired a couple of arrows, missing the target all together. "Oh." Landon remarked in a disappointing tone. Allison made an irritated sigh.

Landon bit his lower lip while trying to think of another way. "Maybe hold the string a different way. Try the Mongolian draw." This earned him a questioning look from Allison, "What? I read." He explained, "Try it." Allison complied and turned the bow sideways across her chest; she drew back the bow and fired but the arrow made a clattering sound against the tree.

"Well at least you got the tree," Landon offered to her, "Take a second to close your eyes and imagine the arrow going  _into_  the target."

Allison took his advice and visualized the arrow going into the target, but it caused Allison to hallucinate Kate running through the woods. "Did you see that?" Allison asked freaking out.

"See what?" He hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary.

"Wait here." Allison told him.

"Are you serious?"

"I'll be right back." Allison told him as she took off.

"You did not just say that." Landon whispered softly.

Allison hiked through the Preserve with her bow in tow. Surrounding her, she could hear a voice whispering, "Over here." It came from right behind her.

"Landon?" Turning to its direction, but nothing was there.

"Allison, over here." It whispered again in the opposite direction.

"Landon?"

"Over here, Allison." The voice said, this time it was stronger and she could see exactly who the voice belonged to.

"Kate." Only, it wasn't Kate that was coming right at her. The dead woman was running full tilt at her in the dark. Allison quickly drew her bow and fired an arrow at the spectre. Only, when she stepped out into the sunlight, did she realize that she has fired the arrow at Landon.

Landon didn't even have a chance to dodge, but luckily for them. Isaac appeared and managed to grab the arrow from hitting Landon. Allison made a gasping sound, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God, Landon."

The bow was aimed at Landon's head.

Later at the McCall residence Isaac shared with Scott what happened at the Preserve, "Right at his head?" Scott questioned.

"Almost right through it." Isaac corrected him, "And she keeps saying the same thing, that she keeps seeing her aunt. If I hadn't been there, then Landon would be dead."

"What were you doing there?"

"I overheard them in art class today." Isaac explained, "Whatever's happening to you guys is getting  _worse_."

* * *

Stiles arrived at her dad's office with a flower arrangement, "You know, the last time we bought one of these to her grave, it was stolen the same day. Hundred bucks down the drain." Stiles stated, but she noticed that her father wasn't exactly at his desk. He's on the floor behind it, "Hey, Dad?" The Sheriff looked up as she gave him a questioning smile, "Hi, um what are you doing down there?"

"Working." The Sheriff told her, shuffling through a pile of papers on the floor, "And hey, if somebody wants the flowers that badly, they can have them. It's the gesture."

Stiles couldn't help but notice that there wasn't just a mess behind his desk, "Hey, Dad, what is all this?" Stiles walked around his office, seeing more plies and sees the board.

"I've been looking over some old cases from a more  _illuminated_  perspective, if you know what I mean." The Sheriff explained.

""Strange sighting of bipedal lizard man sprinting across freeway."" Stiles read off an article.

"Kanima pile."

"Dad, you're not going back through all your old cases seeing if any of them had something to do with the supernatural, are you?"

"I admit the recent opening of my eyes to the greater mysteries of the universe has got me reassessing." He said still shuffling around, "There's at least 100 cases here where I look at the details and I can ask myself, "If I knew then what I know now""

"Right," Stiles said in a worried tone, "but are you  _sure_  you wanna go down that path?"

"Do I have a choice?" He countered and pointed at the board, "There's one case in particular that I can't get out of my head. Eight years ago, I was elected Sheriff of County, my first official duty was to tell a man that not only had his wife and two kids died in a car accident, but, as best we could tell, the body of his son had been dragged from the wreck by coyotes."

"You mean dragged and eaten?"

"We didn't find the car until three days after the crash. They had driven off the road into a pretty deep ravine. Two bodies that were still in the car were covered in bites and slashes."

"You think it was a werewolf attack." It wasn't a question that much she knew.

"Maybe."

"But coyotes, they scavenge, right?" Stiles questioned, "So, couldn't they have just left the bites and the slashes?"

"Absolutely. But guess what night the accident occurred on?" The Sheriff handed her an old calendar.

"The night of a full moon." Stiles noticed.

"Yeah."

Before, leaving the office Stiles noticed that there were a number of other banker's boxes scattered around, packed up with files and labeled "Deliver to FBI Field Office| Special Agent McCall", she did a double take. "Hey, Dad, where are all these going?"

"Yeah, we, uh probably need to talk about that."

* * *

The school bell rang just as Stiles entered in her economics class with Finstock. However, she spotted someone sitting in her usual seat. "Hi, sorry," She said uneasily, "I usually sit there." The student replied using sign language. Well that explained a lot, "Okay, no problem. That's all yours." It took her a second to realize, that everyone else in the room was silent as she sat down.

"That's weird." Stiles had the urge to leave until she saw Finstock in front of the class, "Hey, Coach. Thought I was in the wrong class for a second." The coach began signing the same message as the student. "Um, Okay. I don't actually know sign language." She told him with an uneasy laugh, "Actually, I didn't even know that you knew sign language." She realized, "Or that that was even an elective here." When the students surrounding her did the exact same thing over and over. Stiles was ready to blot, "Well, this has been good, I'm probably gonna, uh, head out." But that doesn't stop the students and Finstock from repeating the same motions faster and faster. A crushing feeling started to take over.

She finally snapped awake by the sound of a whistle blowing, "Stilinski!" Coach Finstock yelled at her.

"Uh-huh?" She asked trying to recover. She realized that she was indeed her Economic class.

"I asked you a question." He snapped at her.

"Uh Sorry, Coach." She released a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding, "What was it?"

"It was "Stilinski, are you paying attention back there?""

"Oh. Well, I am now." She told him trying to add a bit of snark, but it fell flat.

"Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink... Every night." Finstock told her, before turning his attention back to the board, "Does anybody else want to try the question on the board?"

Beside her, Scott gave her a weird look, "I'm okay." She told him, sitting up from her desk, "I just fell asleep for a second."

"Dude," Scott pointed out, "You weren't asleep." He pointed at her notebook. Stiles looked down to see that she had covered the page with the words "Wake Up" in a variety of forms and patterns. It was happened again.

* * *

In the outdoor lunch area, Landon, Allison, Isaac, Stiles and Scott have a discussion, "Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked them.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not?" Stiles added in her part.

"And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?" Allison inputted.

"They're all locked up because they're  _insane_." Isaac joked at them, which resulted in Stiles hitting him up-side the head.

"Ha." Stiles replied sarcastically, "Can you at least  _try_  to be helpful, baby beta. Please?" The please has an irritated tone to it. That happens when you don't get enough sleep.

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer. So, being helpful is kind of a _new_ thing for me." Isaac countered in an informative manner, "And I told you to stop calling me that. It's a bit embarrassing."

"Not on your life," Stiles told him and meshed up his hair. "And are you still milking that?"

"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that." Isaac told her, fixing his hair.

Kira suddenly appeared at the table, "Hi, sorry." She told them shyly, "I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about." She confessed, "And I think I actually might know what you're talking about. There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called "Bardo." It literally means "in-between state." The state between life and death."

"And what do they call you?" Landon asked her.

"Kira." Scott answered, "She's in our History class."

Stiles moved over to give Kira a spot at the table and Kira took it without hesitation, "So are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Landon asked her.

"Either, I guess." She informed him, "But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are  _different_  progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can by visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."

"Wrathful deities?" Isaac questioned her with a bit of disbelief in his voice. "And what are those?"

"Like demons."

"Demons." Stiles stated twitching her nose and threw her palms up in surrender, "Why not?" She was just about over this whole supernatural business.

"Hold on, if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?" Allison asked Kira.

"Death." Kira replied simply, "You die."

* * *

Stiles and Scott figured there was at least one person in town, who could have the answers the questions they had. "It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you." Deaton told Stiles after she told about him about the dream and the sign language.

"Well, how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I actually  _know_?" She grilled.

"Do you remember what the sign language looked like? The placement and movement of the hands?"

"You know sign language?" Scott replied with some surprise.

"I know a little," Deaton admitted, "Let me give it a shot." Stiles made the hand gestures, ""When is a door not a door?"" Deaton asked them.

""When is a door not a door"?" Stiles asked in an annoyed manner.

"When it's ajar." Scott answered.

"You're kidding me. A _riddle_?" She looked at him with some doubt, "My  _subconscious_  wants to tell me a riddle?"

"Not necessarily." Deaton reasoned, "When the three of you went under the water, when you crossed from unconsciousness to a kind of super-consciousness You essentially  _opened_  a door in your minds."

"So what does that mean?" Scott questioned, "The door's still open?"

"Ajar."

"A door into our minds." Stiles repeated slowly, trying to make sense of it, but yeah that wasn't exactly working either.

"I did tell you it was risky." Deaton reminded them.

"What do we do about it?"

"Well, that's difficult to answer." Deaton told Scott with a wince.

"Oh, no, wait a second, I know that look." Stiles stated, "That's the "we know exactly what's wrong with you", "but we have no idea how to fix it" look."

"One thing I do know is that having an opening like that into your mind, it's not good." Deaton confessed to them, "You each need to close that door. And you need to do it as soon as possible."

Before Deaton could get into farther detail Sheriff Stilinski appeared into the examination room. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here because I could use some help." The Sheriff announced and looked over at Scott, "Actually your help."

"Why me?"

"Because eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young boy named Micah, was never found." He shared with them, "There's enough evidence to have me thinking that a werewolf could have caused the accident, and then dragged his body away. If you could somehow get a lock on his scent if you could somehow help me find his body, it might provide the missing clue."

"But what if it really was a werewolf?" Stiles wondered.

"Well, there's somebody out there who murdered an  _entire_  family. Someone who still needs to be  _caught_."


	2. Anchors pt.2

When the Sheriff arrived at the Tate Farm, Mr. Tate was unpacking a small rat trap explaining that he has been having a coyote problem. Of course, the Sheriff pointed out that the trap was too small to catch such a big animal, but the man explained the trap will take away the predator's food source therefore leaving him alone. Something that Mr. Tate obviously preferred lately. The Sheriff promised him that the questions he had wouldn't take long.

Meanwhile, Scott and Stiles have broken into the Tate house and were now in room that looked like it had been untouched in years. Scott quickly, began sniffing everything in the room trying to catch a scent, "All I'm getting is some animal smell." Scott told Stiles after repeatedly handing him random objects.

"What kind of animal?" Stiles asked trying to find something else for Scott to sniff. They both heard a growling sound from behind them and were face to face with a, "Dog." Scott realized. It snarled at them.

"Hi, puppy." She whispered at it completely frozen, but the dog didn't seem amused and showed them it's teeth, "Get rid of it."

"Me?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you." Stiles reiterated, "Glow your eyes at it, something,  _be_  the Alpha." The dog continues snarling at them.

"I can't." Scott hesitated, "I don't have control."

"Okay, buddy, you're going to have to try something." Stiles made a shifting movement, "Nice doggy." In response, to the movement the dog doesn't take kindly to it and started barking causing both Scott and Stiles to panic.

"Apollo! Apollo, shut up! Shut the hell up!" Mr. Tate yelled from the other room and the dog immediately silenced and walked away from them.

Scott and Stiles both took a relief of breath, "Here." Stiles handed Scott a stuffed animal she had been holding, "Anything?"

"All I'm getting is that dog." Scott told her. Stiles lets out a frustrated sigh.

The Sheriff didn't have much luck either with Mr. Tate. In fact, when the Sheriff told him that he believed the family had been murdered Mr. Tate couldn't accept it. Which, the Sheriff expected since he had spent the last eight years thinking his family died in an accident. When the Sheriff told him about the evidence it only seemed to upset the man more and caused Mr. Tate to kicked him out his house.

"I'm sorry." Scott told the Sheriff once they met up, "I tried as hard as I could. If it wasn't so long ago, I might have been able to do it."

"It's okay. It was a long shot." The Sheriff told him in disappointed manner, "In fact, it was a pretty terrible idea. I think I just  _ripped_  a wound open in that poor man." He realized remembering Mr. Tate's reaction, "I never should have brought you two here. I don't know what I was thinking. Thanks for trying, all right?" The Sheriff patted Scott on the shoulder, "See you at home." He told Stiles and heads off.

"Aren't there a lot of cases that go unsolved?" Scott asked Stiles once they were alone.

"Yeah," Stiles replied as she watched down the now empty road, "I just think this is one he felt like he could've figured out right now."

"Why is it so important now?"

Stiles took a breath, "He wants to be able to solve one more while he's  _still_  Sheriff." She said sadly.

"What do you mean, "still Sheriff"?" Scott asked. Stiles gave him an uneasy expression.

* * *

When Melissa McCall arrived home, she wasn't greeted when she walked through the door. In fact, she was greeted by the sound of Scott and his father arguing at each other from the kitchen. "I'm trying to help!" Agent McCall told him.

"That doesn't make any sense, Dad." Scott countered at him clearly upset, "Who are you helping?" Scott pointed at the kitchen door without looking, "Just get out."

"Scott-"

"What?" Scott snapped, "I can't believe that you'd do this to my best friend."

"I'm not doing anything to your friend." Agent McCall replied, "I'm doing my job."

"Your job  _sucks_." Scott shot at him.

"Some days I can't argue that."

Melissa has had enough of the yelling between father and son, "Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" She questioned them.

"He's trying to get Stiles' dad fired." Scott told her angrily. Which caused Melissa to send a glare towards the Agent.

"No." Agent McCall told her quickly, "That's not true."

"What are you doing?" Melissa questioned with her arms crossed.

"Conducting a case for impeachment."

"That sounds a lot like getting him fired." She countered at him.

"The  _lack_  of resolution and ability to close cases is what's going to get him fired." Agent McCall explained to them, "My job is just to collect the information. And it's the job my superiors have given me."

"Your job sucks." Melissa repeated at him. Scott shortly became so angry he began to transform, seeing this Melissa quickly took him away from his father and into the front hallway. "Scott Sweetheart calm down." She directed to him taking hold his hands. Scott's eyes were glowing the Alpha red and his breathing had quickened, "Let it go. Just breathe and let it go."

"I'm trying." Scott told her, obviously trying to hold back the transformation.

"You told me you and Stiles learned a way to control this. You find an anchor, right?" She questioned him and Scott gives her nod and she nods along with him, "Find your anchor."

"My anchor was Allison." Scott told her, before letting out a struggling groan. "I don't have Allison anymore."

"Then be your own anchor." Melissa coached him, "You can do this."

It was a struggle at first, but Scott managed to get his transformation under control and lets out some panting breaths. Melissa stood close to her son with her hands on his shoulders, "I know that what you're feeling right now is hard but," She told him in a calm voice, "Sweetheart, let me tell you something no teenager ever believes, but I swear to you is the  _absolute_  truth. You  _will_  fall in love again." She told him, "And it'll be just as amazing and as extraordinary as the first time. And maybe just as painful. But it will happen again, I promise, but until then be  _your own_   _anchor_."

Stiles has been laying down in her bedroom in the dark. She couldn't sleep, but nor did she want to. She tried reach out for Derek, but she felt like she had been blocked. Which hadn't become a surprise since it's been happening for the past two weeks.

She heard a knock on her door, just before Scott busted into her room with a flashlight. "Hey, what's going on?" She asked, noticing him clearly out of breath.

"You and me." Scott told her with a smile on his face, "We're going to go out and find a body." This earns him a questioning look, "A  _dead_  body." Stiles wasted no time getting ready.

* * *

Allison was too busy in the moment to think about what is happening. The only thing that mattered right now was her making out with Scott. "I'm happy that we don't have to use words." She told him in between kisses as Scott pushed down her onto the bed.

"Yeah me too. Our words tend to suck." Scott responded and removed his shirt and they both proceed kissing each other. When Scott leaned in to kiss her neck Allison felt something weird.

"What's around your neck?" Allison asked him and suddenly Kate Argent appeared up behind him, pulling a garrote tight around his neck. Scott started to make choking sounds.

"Let's do him, Allison." Kate urged her, "Let's do him together."

In shock, Allison tried to reach out for Scott only to discover that she actually held a Chinese ring dagger in her hands and Kate continued to kill Scott in front of her.

Allison woke-up with a start in gasping breaths on her bed. For some reason, she reached under her pillow and discovered she did actually have a Chinese ring dagger under her pillow. Looking beside her, Landon was asleep undisturbed with their schoolwork spread out.

They both had dozed off while studying.

* * *

In the woods, Scott and Stiles began their search, "You know, if my dad's right, that means there's  _another_  werewolf in town that we haven't met yet." Stiles pointed out to him, while trying not to trip over her own two feet.

"I know." Scott dreaded.

"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that." She informed him, "Maybe the human should be in charge of the flashlight." Stiles told him, as she almost falls again.

"Yeah." Scott said, while observing their surroundings, "Me either. Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore." He clearly didn't hear Stiles' comment about the flashlight.

In the distance, they heard a howl, which caused Stiles to jump towards Scott. In result, Scott dropping in his phone down an incline into a puddle. He shot Stiles a look.

"Sorry, buddy. I  _hate_  coyotes so much." She told him as they both go down the incline, "They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless little animal."

"It still works." Scott told her as he got the phone from the water, but Stiles wasn't paying attention. She was too busy looking at the scene in front of her.

"I think we found it." She told him when she managed to take hold of the light. The car was still there in the same spot where it crashed eight years before. Scott and Stiles made their way towards.

"Why wouldn't they move it?" Scott wondered, "Isn't it evidence?"

"Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out." Stiles speculated, while inspecting the car. She noticed scratches on one of the unhinged doors, "Look at this," She called over to him. "See those? Animal claws would be closer together, right? A lot closer."

Scott placed his fingers along the scratches as they both match the distance, "Then it was a werewolf." Scott breathed out.

"So, my dad was right." Stiles looked farther inside the car and noticed a baby doll. It was the same doll she had seen in a picture in the room at the Tate residence.

"What is that?" Scott asked her once she pulled it out.

"I'm hungry." The electronic baby doll announced to them. Not expecting the doll to even say anything Stiles released another scream.

"I think I just had a minor heart attack." She said placing her hand over her heart. She doesn't get a chance to recover because they suddenly began hearing something growling at them. Scott noticed that there were two glowing eyes staring at them.

"Please tell me you see that."

"I see it." Stiles told him. A gray creature took off and Scott followed suit. "Wait, hey, Scott! Scott, wait!" Stiles shouted at him.

Scott chased the animal through the woods. When the creature made a huge leap over a canyon, Scott followed as well, but he was soon face to face with the animal. His eyes glowed red and the other creature's eyes glow white and then blue, indicating it has taken an innocent life.

"Micah?" Scott called out as the animal ran away.

* * *

In an abandoned building a man groaned in the distance. On a table there is a line with bloody knives, wire cutters and other torture tools, a cell phone, with a pendent in the form of an angel next to it, buzzed. A message on the screen reads "Scott McCall _: Derek Call me."_  This was followed immediately by a second text reading "Stiles:  _Derek, need help. Call back ASAP!_ "

Peter and Derek Hale hang are suspended on a section of chain link inside a warehouse of some sort. The fencing is electrified, sending shocks through the two men's bodies at regular intervals. Derek shot Peter a glare.

"Why are you looking at me like this is my fault?" Peter questioned him.

"Because it is  _your_  fault." Derek countered. Another wave of electricity has been delivered to them. Both let out groans. Derek had never been so happy to not be connected with Stiles right now. The electric current would've definitely weakened his ability to block out the pain from her.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Peter admitted. A shadowy figure dialed up the electric current.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned tmrw for More Bad Than Good parts 1 & 2\. I realize at some point things in this season will be confusing, but have no fear the end notes will make it all clear (hopefully XD)


	3. More Bad Than Good pt.1

Derek and Peter remain chained to the fencing. Sparks flew from their bodies as electricity flowed through the metal and into their bodies. A bearded man stood in front of them by the device that provided the electric shock, "You see this equipment?" He asked them in a strong Hispanic tone, "Very old. The settings are not quite accurate anymore. So it's hard to tell just how far to turn the dial. I think it's a little high." He upped the dial and caused another surge of electricity shocking the werewolves, "I've seen some crack their teeth. Others, they just shake and shake even after their heart stops. Sometimes we don't even know they're dead."

Peter and Derek both groan from the pain and the bearded man just laughed at them, "But nobody wants to play a guessing game." The man told them, "So, why don't you just tell us? Where is la loba?"

"We don't know where la loba." Derek said panting.

"No?" The man questioned, "Maybe you need a  _different_  method of persuasion? Maybe we cut one of you in  _half_ , the other talks?" He suggested.

"I would just  _love_  to be there for volunteer," Peter told the man, "but we  _really_  don't know what you're talking about. And honestly, isn't bisecting people with a broad sword a little  _medieval_?" He joked at the man.

The man, in response, laughed, "Broad sword?" The man asked between chuckling, "We're not savages."

There were other hunters in the room with him and one of them handed him something big. It isn't until the object the man held roars to life and Derek shot Peter another death glare. The man has a chainsaw.

"We all wonder how far your little healing trick goes." The man told them edging closer to them, "What do you think? Can you grow back an arm?" He questioned looking directly at Derek, "We're pretty sure you can't grow back your head."

They were interrupted by an older woman, "Boys." She stated with a small smile on her face walking to the room towards them, "No tiene que ser tan duro." She told them.

The man turned off the chainsaw as the woman stood in front of Derek and Peter, "No hablo espanol." Derek replied perfectly.

The Spanish woman looked pleased, but not surprised, "Tu hablas muchos idiomas, Derek Hale." She said knowingly. "You know exactly what I'm saying. And you know what we want. Where are the She-Wolf?"

"We don't know any She-Wolf." Derek said in a straight tone.

"I know you won't talk, lobito." The woman gives him a small nod, but turning her attention towards Peter, "This one will talk." She said confidently, "This one loves the sound of his own voice."

"You should hear me sing." Peter quirked.

"We want to hear you scream." The man told them.

"No one ever wants to hear me sing." Peter said in feign disappointment. Derek rolled his eyes. At this rate, Peter is going to get them both killed and if by some miracle that they did survive he would kill himself.

"What could we do to persuade you, hmm?" She asked them, "It's not like you have someone to protect," The woman gave Derek a small glance. Almost as if she knew about Stiles, Derek's heart nearly skipped a beat. "We'll just have to try something else," The woman produced a small knife and cuts off Peter's right finger and stabbed the claw of the severed digit into the wooden floor, while Peter screamed in pain.

"Think about it." The woman advised, not facing them anymore, "I'm only going to ask you nine more times." The woman left. While Peter was still trying to recover from losing his finger, Derek couldn't help but wonder what happened after the woman reached nine.

* * *

Scott was still chasing the werecoyote through the woods, however when Scott loses track of it, he managed to run into Stiles, causing them both to scream at each other. "I don't think my heart can take much more this," Stiles shared still recovering, "I think I found something." She told Scott and leads him to a cave. "It's a coyote den." She told Scott as they entered.

"Werecoyote." Scott corrected.

Stiles ignored the correction, "You see this?" She held up a dark blue jacket, "This is Micah's. Remember, it's the same one he was wearing in the photo." There were some other toys as well in the den.

"We shouldn't be in here." Scott realized.

"What do you mean?"

"He's not going to come back now." Scott told her and began pulling her out, "We just  _invaded_  his home. Our scent's going to be everywhere."

"If he's not going to come back here, where's he going to go?" Stiles questioned.

"I don't know."

"Can you track him now at least?"

"Maybe." Scott tried sniffing the air, "But I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf. And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

Stiles lets out a dejected sigh, "The door's still open."

"Hey, think you can link to Derek or something? He hasn't returned any of my messages."

Stiles shook her head, "I'm on the same boat with you. I haven't heard from him in the past week and a half."

"If we can't get to Derek, we're gonna have to find someone else to help." Scott looked at the den, "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of my boss's league."

"And more in my dad's." Stiles finished.

* * *

The Sheriff was incredulous that the coyote was actually a boy. Scott and Stiles tried to spin a scenario whereby the accident that killed the Tate family was caused when Micah transformed while his mom was driving. Micah, wracked with guilt at the death of his family, ran off into the woods and becomes trapped inside the body of a coyote. Of course, it was just a theory at the time.

"That makes sense." The Sheriff told them. Both Scott and Stiles let out a breath of relief, "In a Chinese folktale." He snapped at them, causing both of them to jump, "This is...this is  _insane._  I need this kept quiet. The two of you, not a word. I don't want anyone hearing about this. I especially don't want Mr. Tate hearing about this."

Looking at the entrance of the cave, Scott had a hallucination where he was transformed with Micah laid over a rock and Scott ready to slash him with his claws, "Scott? Scott!" The Sheriff's voice broke into his head.

"Sorry." Scott shook his head, trying to focus, "What did you say?"

Before, the Sheriff got to repeat his statement he noticed someone arriving at the scene. Someone who definitely did not need to be there, "Oh, hell. Mr. Tate."

"It's his." Mr. Tate said, when he noticed the Sheriff holding the dark blue jacket in an evidence bag. Behind him, Agent McCall appeared directing the man back to a deputy.

"Dad-" Scott said, but Agent McCall cuts in.

"I'll talk to you in a minute." He told Scott, "I wouldn't mind hearing how your mom's okay with you running around in the woods this late."

"What the hell are you doing bringing him here?" The Sheriff asked, once Stiles and Scott left the scene.

"I'm getting confirmation on a more than significant lead." Agent McCall explained and looking around the scene, "And starting to understand why your department can't close cases."

The Sheriff ignored the jab, "There's no body. There's no remains to identify."

"Well, not yet, Sheriff." Agent McCall told him, "But do a little digging and I'm sure you'll uncover something. Like the bones of a 9-year-old boy."

"I think you're going to find it's just a little bit more complicated than that," The Sheriff told him, " _Special_  Agent."

"Come on, Stilinski, you know how this goes." Agent McCall pressed, "It's the not knowing that ruins people like Tate. The truth, no matter how profoundly it sucks the truth is always better than not knowing."

Micah was running through the woods and came out on an outcropping overlooking the lights of Beacon Hills. The moon was full and he lets out a howl.

* * *

Stiles and Scott showed Allison a picture of the den, "It's right in the middle of the hiking trails." Stiles told her.

"Well, that could narrow it down." Allison told them, "Coyotes travel in  _fixed_  trails. But I think you're right about him not going back to the den." Allison explained, "Coyotes don't like wolves. And they're really smart. If they don't want to be heard, they actually walk on their toes."

"Coyotes tip-toe?"

"They tip-toe." Allison told her, the bell rang signaling for class about to start, "I got to go, but send me the pinned location."

Stiles gave her a thumbs-up and settled down. Scott was too, when Kira appeared in front of him, "Hey. I'm Kira. You knew that. I knew you knew that. I don't know why I just told you that again." She said quickly and shyly, "Anyway, I have something for you."

"For me?"

"About the bardo." She began shuffling through her bag, "My explanation was sort of all over the place, so I did some research and I printed it out for you."

Scott gave her a chuckle, "You didn't have to do that."

"It only took a couple of hours." Kira replied in a no big deal manner.

"Then you really didn't have to do that."

Kira still couldn't find the pages, "I swear I printed it out."

"Kira." Mr. Yukimura appears behind her with a stack of papers, "You forgot all the research you did for that friend of yours." With that statement he walked away. Scott and Kira could hear the way the man said it and looked awkwardly at each other, before taking their seats.

"All right, everyone. Let's get started." Mr. Yukimura instructed the class, "We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war. There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read aloud for us?" He gazed around the class and sees that Stiles had her head down, "Ms. Stilinski, how about you?"

"Oh," Stiles replied on edge and looking around uncomfortably, "Maybe someone else could."

"Everyone participates in my class, Ms. Stilinski."

"Okay." She replied reluctantly and made her way to the front of the class. As she tried to read, the letters began to slide off the page and Stiles began to panic. "Okay, okay." She shuts her eyes trying to breath and remain calm, "Come on, come on." She told herself, but it wasn't working. She looked in front of the class as her world tilted.

From the middle section of the room, Scott picked up Stiles' strange behavior, "Stiles?" He asked getting out the chair, "You okay?"

Stiles doesn't answer and starts to breathe heavily, nearly falling into Scott's arms. "I should take her to the nurse's office." Scott told Mr. Yukimura and the teacher agreed upon seeing Stiles reaction.

Scott managed to get Stiles to the restroom, where her breathing seemed to have worsen, "Stiles, look at me, Is this a panic attack?" Stiles fell to ground.

"It's a dream, it's a dream." Stiles chanted and shaking herself trying to wake herself up, "This is just a dream."

"No, it's not. This is real." Scott told her getting on the floor as well, "You're here. You're here with me. Okay, what do you do?" Stiles wasn't getting better and Scott was close to freaking out himself, "I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

"Your fingers you count your fingers." Stiles replied in between breaths, "You have extra fingers in dreams."

"How many do I have?" Scott asked her, holding up his hands, but Stiles wasn't looking at him, "Hey! Look at me. Come on, Stiles. Look at my hands and count with me."

Stiles managed to look at Scott's opened palms, "One Two."

"Keep going." Scott coached gently.

"Three. Four."

"Five." Scott told her when she stopped.

"Six. Seven."

"Eight."

"Nine. Ten." Stiles said confused.

"Ten." Scott repeated showing her his hands, "Ten."

Stiles panting slowed down, but she still doesn't feel like this was over yet, "What the hell is happening to me?" Stiles asked him.

"We'll figure it out." Scott assured her, wiping away some of the sweat that formed around her head, "You're going to be okay."

"Am I?" Stiles asked her friend, "Are you?" She asked him, "Scott, you can't  _transform_. Allison's being  _haunted_  by her dead aunt. And I'm straight up  _losing_  my mind. We can't do this. We can't...we can't help Micah. We can't help anyone."

"We can try." Scott told her, "We can  _always_  try."

* * *

The bell ending class rang and Mr. Yukimura reminded the class to read the chapters on "President Carter and the Commission on Wartime Relocation." Kira noticed that Scott and Stiles had not return and their book bags were left behind.

She carried the bags down the hall and encountered a growling Micah/werecoyote. The creature began to attack. Kira quickly ducked into the locker room where she dropped the bags and hid from the very angry beast. The door doesn't stop Micah from crashing through the frosted glass window set.

Just as she was about to get caught, Scott appeared by her side and pushed the lockers over onto the coyote. Micah fled and Scott noticed Stiles' book bag was ripped open, one vacant eye of a little girl's doll was staring out of the gap.

* * *

"I don't want to make it sound like we don't appreciate your hospitality but do you think it would be possible to put that on ice?" Peter asked looking at his severed finger still on the floor, "Maybe something for my hand? Extra-large Band-Aid? Perhaps some antibiotic ointment?"

The guard doesn't get answer as shadows moved on the floor above the torture chamber. There was the sound of glass breaking. The guard readied his rifle and fired up into the slatted wood ceiling. Round after round were fired above too, the shell casings cascade down through gaps in the boards.

The front door crashed inward, a woman's hand reached for the guard's gun, taking it from him. He attempted to throw a punch, but she used the butt of the gun to pound him and sent him sprawling.

When she turns around to reveal her face, "You're the one who saved Isaac." Derek realized.

"I'm the one who was  _hired_  to save Isaac." The woman corrected him.

"Someone hired you to get us out of here?" Peter asked in disbelief.

"Someone hired me to get  _Derek_  out of here." She told him unchaining Derek, "You, I'm totally fine leaving for  _dead_."

"When did I get this reputation?" Peter asked slightly offended.

"Who hired you? What's your name?" Derek asked her.

"Deucalion and Braeden." She replied simply.

"Deucalion?" Peter asked with doubt, "The guy who did that to you?" He noted her thick scars on her face and neck from when she had taken on the Alpha Pack.

"A girl's gotta eat." She replied with a shoulder shrug, "All right, let's get the hell out of here." She directed them once she unchained them. Peter grabbed his finger from the floor and placed it against the stump, his healing ability kicked in reattaching the digit, but not fully.

"Was there anyone else here?" Derek asked her.

"If you're talking about this Stiles person," Braeden told him, "She's back in Beacon Hills so let's go."

Derek felt a sense of relief and felt even more relief, when he placed the pendent back on and could feel Stiles perfectly fine. He wasn't going to bother her yet. There was one more thing they needed to get.

"We're not leaving without it." Derek told her gathering his things.

"Without what?" Braeden asked slightly annoyed.

* * *

Animal control officers were rushed down the hallway at the high school, along with the Sheriff's department. "A couple of students said they saw it running across the field and back into the woods." The Sheriff told Stiles, "Thank God, nobody got hurt."

"What happens if he does hurt someone?"

The Sheriff gave a wary sigh, "Most likely they'll have to put it down."

"Put him down?" Stiles freaked, "Dad, try not to forget there's a  _boy_  in there, one that you'll be killing." Stiles noticed the look on the Sheriff's face, "Come on, you aren't back to not believing, are you?" She questioned.

"I believe there are a lot of things I don't understand yet." The Sheriff admitted, "Like you and Derek being soul-bonded, but that doesn't mean that everything and anything  _imaginable_  is suddenly possible." The Sheriff caught the look of distraught on Stiles face, "Now, are you 100% sure that this is a boy and not an animal?"

"Yes. Because Scott's sure." She told him, she turning her head down the hall where Scott stood, "Scott, you been listening?" Scott gave her a nod and the Sheriff acquiesced. "All right, let's get this figured out. Come on."

Meanwhile, Kira was getting grilled by her father, "Dad, seriously, I'm okay."

"Why were you not headed to lunch like everyone else?"

"They left their bags." Kira explained, "I was just trying to do something nice. You do something nice and you make friends. Or so I've heard." Scott overheard the exchange.

"Scott." Stiles appeared beside him, "I think I know what he was looking for."

"You  _took_  the doll from the car." Scott stated raising an eyebrow at her, holding said doll up.

Stiles gaped a bit, "Yeahhhhh," Stiles said realizing how bad it sounded, "I thought you could use it, you know, for like his scent."

When Scott showed the doll to Stiles, Mr. Tate appeared noticing that Scott was holding onto the doll. "Where did you get that?" He demanded, taking it away, "Where did you find this? It belonged to my daughter. Micah's sister."

"Sorry." The Sheriff quickly intervened, but felt something that Mr. Tate had strapped around his waist. He knew exactly what it was without having to look, "Mr. Tate, I don't know how you heard about this. If you got your own police scanner or what but you can't be here."

"I have a permit." Mr. Tate said meekly.

"California schools are gun free zones, permit or no permit. You need to leave, Mr. Tate." The Sheriff advised him, "Now."

"You find that animal." Mr. Tate ordered him, "You find that thing."

At the Argent Apartment Allison was in her father's study. She opened up a case and retrieved a tranquilizer gun, texting Scott that she's  _"Got it."_

* * *

At the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, Scott, Stiles and Isaac sought out the help of Dr. Deaton. "Xylazine. It's a tranquilizer for horses." He settled down small bottles, "For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three. So whoever's shooting, needs to be a damn good shot." He told them.

"Allison's a perfect shot." Scott said confidently.

"She used to be." Isaac countered.

"She can do it."

"If we manage to find the thing."

"Okay, baby beta what's the problem?" Stiles asked annoyed already, "Seriously, aside from the  _persistent_  negativity, though maybe you probably got that from Derek, and the scarf?" She pointed at the scarf around his neck, "What's up with the scarf anyway?" She asked while Isaac gives her a slanted smile, "It's 65 degrees out."

"Look, maybe I'm asking a question no one here wants to ask." He defended himself, "How do we turn a coyote back into a boy, when he hasn't been a boy for  _eight_  years?

"I can do it." Scott told them.

"You can?" Stiles asked trying to hide the doubt in her voice.

"You remember the night that Peter trapped us in the school?" Scott asked her.

"I try not to." Stiles replied.

"In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his  _voice_. Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery."

"This is a  _werecoyote_ , Scott." Deaton told him, "Who knows if it'll even work if you can find someone who can teach you."

"That's why you need Derek." Stiles realized. "Still haven't heard him. I felt something earlier, but the feeling passed."

"I could try it on my own." Scott suggested, "But right now, I'm too  _scared_  to even change into just a werewolf."

"We need a real Alpha." Stiles told him and that earned her a glare from Scott, "You know what I mean," She told him, "An Alpha who can do Alpha things. You know, an Alpha who can get it going. You know, get it-" She struggled for the right word.

"Up?" Isaac offered.

"Great." Scott dejected, "I'm an Alpha with performance  _issues_."

"Is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?" Deaton asked them.

"I wouldn't trust Peter." Isaac told them.

"Peter left with Derek," Stiles told them, "Maybe the twins?”

"They're not Alphas anymore. After what Jennifer did, almost killing them?" Deaton told her, "It  _broke_  that part of them."

"Yeah, but what if they know how to do it?"

"Nobody's seen them for  _weeks_." Scott informed them.

"Actually," Stiles started which caused the werewolves and the vet to look at her, "That's not  _totally_  true."

* * *

Scott, Stiles, and Landon arrived at an empty loft, "They said they'd meet us here." Landon told them.

From the darkness, both Ethan and Aiden appeared and began attacking Scott. Stiles was so surprised by the sudden ambush that Landon had to move her out the way, "I thought you guys were gonna teach me to roar." Scott claimed in between the punches.

"We are." Aiden told him, "You do it by giving in."

"Giving in and letting go." Ethan included, "That's how Deucalion taught us control." They continued their assault on Scott as Stiles starts feeling the instinct to stop the twins from hurting Scott run through her body.

"They won't kill him." Landon whispered to her taking hold of her hand that had been clenching into a fist. "Trying to help remember?"

"Yeah, I know." She told him. She watched the twins’ assault. Scott had managed to get in a few punches, but Scott was still at a disadvantage. "Hey, you know, what's funny." She shared with them, "I've actually tried something like this one time using a heart monitor and lacrosse balls. But you're right, beating the living crap out of him is probably a lot better."

The werewolves stopped their attack to give Scott a chance to recover, "That's actually the plan? You kick my ass?" Scott asked them.

"You're afraid to turn." Aiden told him.

"We're gonna make you. You turn." Ethan confessed, "Then you kick our asses."

"And then you roar."

Aiden and Ethan restarted their attack. This time they added in some taunts. "You don't think you can let go with us?" Aiden asked as he punched Scott in the stomach.

"You think you're going to hurt us?" Ethan questioned clocking Scott in the jaw.

"Come on, McCall. Give it your all."

"We can always heal."

"You're an Alpha. You want to roar like one, you've got to give in full throttle." Aiden told him as he slammed Scott into the floor, "You've got to be the monster. Become the beast."

"Become everything you're afraid of." Ethan lectured, "That's what gives you  _power_. It gives you  _strength_."

Scott groaned on the impact, "Giving into it doesn't make you the bad guy." Aiden told him.

"So long as you can control it." Ethan added in.

"Sometimes control's a little overrated."

"Come on, Scott." Stiles whispered trying to fight the instinct, "Fight back." She began flinching in place and Landon puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Breath Stiles." He directed her.

"What if I can't control it?" Scott asked them, "What if I can't turn back?"

"Then it takes over." Ethan answered, "You become Micah. You get further and further away from being human. You turn into an animal. Or worse."

"You turn into Peter." Aidan hinted.

This caused Scott to flash back to the night Peter "died," he sees the creature Peter had become. Scott rushed at Aiden, but the former Alpha flipped him up onto the table and begins pounding on his face.

"Barrier!" Stiles voice fills the air. In a manner of seconds, Aiden hits a blue circle barrier and noticed that Stiles has her palm stretched out breathing heavily.

"What?" Aiden questioned when he started to notice the stares, "I thought we were helping him."

"You help too much." Ethan told him.

At the Tate farm, Mr. Tate was testing a bear trap, he pushed a piece of firewood into the trigger and the sharpened jaws snapped shut.

* * *

Isaac and Allison met up at the Argent Apartment for the hunt, Allison was getting the tranquilizer ready. "Do you think you can hone in on Micah?" She asked when he handed her the sedatives, "If not, we're going to be in the woods for a long time."

"I've got a pretty good lock on his scent." Isaac shared and holds up a small bottle-filled with a weird yellow liquid, "It's actually kind of strong."

"What is it?"

"Pee."

“I don’t wanna know.” Allison said making a face. She attempted to load the syringe in the rifle, but her hands started shaking and she ended up dropping the bottle. It went under the study desk. She bent down to pick it up and stood back up.

Instead of her apartment, Allison was once again in the Beacon Hills Hospital Morgue. There was a patient on the table under a blanket, but when she pulled the sheet back, she found herself being patient looking up at a group of doctors.

Kate Argent appeared, from behind a doctor's mask, to be doing an autopsy on her. Allison could see that her chest was cracked open and her organs are all visible. Kate took a hold of her heart saying "There's definitely something wrong with it" before she threw it aside. She said the rest of the organs looked fine and then the doctors turn into werewolves and start eating Allison's entrails.

Allison snapped back to reality when she heard Isaac calling her name. She was holding the tranquilizer gun right at Isaac. Isaac had been backed into a corner. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry." She quickly told him, putting the gun down. "I'm-I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was doing. I'm sorry."

"Better than ring daggers, I guess."

"How am I supposed to help anyone if I'm like this?" She asked him. Her hands were still shaking, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Allison. You can do this. Scott believes in you and so I do," Isaac told her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, "I helped you once, let me help you again." He took hold of the gun and the syringe, "Now show me what to do."

 


	4. More Bad Than Good pt.2

Stiles' Jeep, Scott's dirt bike and Allison's car arrived in the Beacon Hills Preserve. The group has already been paired off. "Anyone else think we might be doing more  _harm_  than good?" Landon asked them in a worried tone.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own son." Scott reminded them.

"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his son," Isaac reasoned, "Who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his son."

"And again with the _not_ helping." Stiles told him and Isaac sent her a smug look.

"Did you bring it?" Scott asked Allison. She held up the tranquilizer gun.

* * *

"A jogger on her early morning run almost stepped right into this." The Sheriff told Mr. Tate throwing down a bear trap, "Now, you want to tell me exactly how many of those you put out there?" The Sheriff can tell by the look on the man's face that there was more than one. In fact, he happens to look into another room and discovers piles of empty boxes. "Some kid could get  _trapped_  in one of these." The Sheriff snapped at him, "Some kid could  _die_  in one of these."

"My kid died." Mr. Tate told him, "Mine."

The Sheriff made a frustrated sigh, "You and me. We're going out there right now." He told the man, "And we're going to disarm every single one, I don't care if it takes all night."

When the Sheriff and Mr. Tate were about to leave, Mr. Tate spotted that the screen on the back door has been ripped off. "It's in the house." Mr. Tate stated. He then proceeded to go to a long cabinet that held multiple guns and pulled out a rifle. Before the Sheriff even has a chance to stop him, they end up seeing the coyote sitting in the yard with the doll from Stiles' backpack siting under it. Tate took a shot at the animal and missed as the animal took off. But so did Mr. Tate.

Hearing the gunfire from their meeting area, Scott took off on his bike toward the shots. Isaac and Allison followed after him on foot.

Stiles' phone rang and it turned out to be the Sheriff. He told her what happened at the Tate house, "It took the doll again?" She questioned, "What the hell is so  _important_  about this doll?"

"I don't know, but listen to me." The Sheriff told her, "There are traps all over those woods. Near the trails. Probably near the car crash." He informed her, "And Tate is out there with a rifle. I want you to stay out of those woods. You got that? Stiles?"

Stiles had stopped listening, "It's the doll."

"Stiles?"

There was another gunshot in the distance, "Dad I got go." She told him and hung up. "All right, but why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll? One that was in the car wreck in the first place." She questioned Landon, "We didn't find it in the coyote den."

"It likes the doll." He stated, "Who cares?"

"It likes the doll a  _lot."_

"What kind of doll is it?"

"I don't know. It's a doll, you know. It's got little arms, a big baby head and dead, soulless eyes." Stiles told him and showed him a picture she had taken with her phone from the house.

"Stiles, his _sister_ holding the doll." Landon told her.

Stiles looked over at the picture between Micah and his sister, "I know what he's doing."

"What?"

"I know where he's going."

* * *

"Isaac, wait!" Allison called out to him.

Isaac had caught a glimpse of Tate and the coyote, but he didn't get very far because on his way to stop the man from shooting the animal Isaac stepped in one of Tate's hidden traps and howled in pain. The cry from the Beta was strong enough and loud enough in Scott's ears to knock him off his motorbike.

"Allison, there he is." Isaac pointed at the man still arming his weapon at the animal, "Hit Tate. Use the tranq on him"

"Okay, come on." Allison told herself, first shot hits a tree. Missing the shot caused Allison to hesitate and her hands began to shake badly.

"Allison! Breathe." Isaac told her.

She took another deep breath and muttering, "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger" and fired the shot striking Tate in the shoulder. He dropped to the ground and Micah ran off.

Stiles tried to reach Scott, but only ended up getting his voicemail, "Scott, it's me, you got to call me back as soon as you can. The doll belonged to Micah's sister, Micah left it at the car for his sister. It's like bringing flowers to a  _grave_." She explained pacing back and forth, "Okay, and we  _stole_  the flowers. So, that's all he's trying to do, right. Bring the doll back to the grave, to the car wreck. That's where he's headed. The car wreck."

She was still pacing around badly that she didn't even realized that Landon was trying to get her attention. "Stiles?" Landon called to her slowly.

"Yeah." Stiles automatically, but Landon knew she wasn't really paying attention, due to the fact that Stiles was flitching around.

"Stiles!" He yelled at her, which grabbed her attention and he indicated to the ground.

"Oh, God," She said in response. Landon was standing on one of Tate's bear traps. The only reason it hadn't snapped close was because Landon's foot was still holding the trigger down. "Don't move." She told him.

Stiles tried to focus on using her spark to orb Landon off the trip, but for some reason nothing happened, which caused Stiles to panic a bit.

"Stiles you don't need that spark," Landon told her calmly, "Just look for a warning label."

"A warning label?"

"Instructions on how to disarm it." Landon told her.

Stiles got to the ground and noticed a red label on the side of the trap, "Landon, why in the hell would they put instructions on the  _bottom_  of a trap?"

"Because animals can't read." Landon told her, still not moving an inch.

Stiles, unfortunately, couldn't read either at the moment; the words on the label are just a collection of random letters. "We got a problem." She told him from the ground.

"Huh?" Landon asked now beginning to worry.

"I can't read either."

"You don't need the instructions." Landon told her, "When was the last time you've ever used instructions? Am I right?" He asked her and Stiles nodded her head, "You don't need them or that spark of yours because you are too  _smart_  to waste your time with them, okay?" He told her, "You can figure it out. Stiles, you're the one who  _always_  figures it out. So you can do it.  _Figure it out_."

Stiles took a few minutes to study the trap and found a large screw that tightened the spring. It clicked into place. "Okay, I got it." She told him, "Are you ready?"

Landon quickly nodded his head, "Okay, here we go." She told him. By twisting the screw Stiles was able to delay the closing of the trap, as she does this and Landon stepped away from the trap just in time.

"I knew you could do it." Landon told her.

* * *

Scott allowed himself to "wolf out" while chasing Micah. His eyes glowed red and he leapt across the ravine that held the Tate's wrecked car. He landed in front of the coyote. In response, the animal growled at him, but Scott returned a growl of his own, using his werewolf voice. That echoes throughout the Preserve.

At the bear trap, Isaac eyes began to glow upon hearing the roar and he was suddenly able to rip the trap from his leg. Back at the jeep, both Stiles and Landon heard the roar and looked into the woods. "That's what I'm talking about." Stiles said with a smile on her face.

The werecoyote turned into a boy. Who looks very confused as to what happened.

The Sheriff returned Micah to his father and they both embrace, while crying into each other's arms. Stiles watched the exchanged from the Sheriff's SUV, and realized she was able to read again. She lets out a relieved sigh.

At the Sheriff's Office, FBI agents, including McCall, tote out box after box of files. The sheriff slammed the door after them.

* * *

Peter, Braeden and Derek entered a mansion and there they find a chest. When Derek tried to touch it, but his hands were repelled by the wood.

"It's made from a Rowan tree." Derek realized, "It's mountain ash wood." Both Derek and Peter look at each other helplessly, before looking at Braeden with the helpless looks.

Upon seeing their expression, Braeden kicked off the lock and opened the chest. It was filled with Mountain Ash dust.

"And that would be just mountain ash." Peter told them, "Somebody  _really_  doesn't want our hands in there."

Braeden took the hint and reached in and removed a carved cylinder with the Triple Spiral pattern on the top.

In the woods at the Nemeton, a gloved figure approached and found a small sprig of green that was growing out of the top of the stump. The figure ripped away the fresh growth and casted it on the ground before walking away.

From the crack where the little green sprig had been sprouting, a firefly emerged followed by dozens, then hundreds more.

The bug swarms began to take on three distinctively humanoid shapes.


	5. Galvanize pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys it's the time of the weekend :). During the week I noticed that Sterek and Destiel ships are up against each other in the slash madness competition so in celebration of that I'm going the same thing I did last weekend and posting parts 1 & 2 of Glavanize today and Illuiminated parts1 & 2 tmrw. So let's win Sterek for us and only us! Enjoy!

Agent McCall was managing a security detail as a patient was being transferred to the Beacon Hills Hospital and instructed the ambulance driver to go around back and to keep quiet about the identity of the patient.

Inside the emergency waiting area, Melissa McCall was proudly adjusting a jack-o'-lantern when she caught sight of her ex-husband and Sheriff Stilinski on a collision course, "Oh, here we go." She mumbled to herself making her way over them.

"He is not coming in." The Sheriff told Agent McCall.

"This is the only hospital that will take him." Agent McCall reasoned with him.

"What about County?"

"You'd be surprised how fast things fill up when a guy like this needs surgery."

Melissa looked over the paperwork that Agent McCall handed over to her, "They  _turfed_  him to us?" Melissa questioned.

"Yeah." The Sheriff told, "If County doesn't want to operate on him."

"Then someone has to." Agent McCall told them. The said patient was rolled in past the McCalls and the Sheriff; Melissa observed that his feet and arms are strapped down with thick padded cuffs of leather.

"Somebody needs to do his pre-op interview." Melissa told them.

"Who usually does that?"

"Me." She realized.

* * *

In the school locker room, Stiles was lurking in the dark with a flashlight while talking to Scott on the phone. "Get your ass down here now." Stiles ordered him, "We have a job to do."

"Dude, I'm already in bed." Scott told her, "And aren't we getting a little old for this?"

"We do this  _for_  Coach." She told him, opening up a locker with one hand, while holding a flashlight in her mouth.

"I thought we did this  _to_  Coach." Scott told her.

"Wha'ver, okay?" Stiles said frustrated taking the flashlight out, "You werewolves and every little detail. You know he needs this. He lives for this stuff. He  _loves_  it."

"But it's the middle of the night." Scott complained.

"Which means it's after midnight and officially Mischief Night/Day, and, by perfectly awesome coincidence, it's also happens to be Coach's birthday." Stiles told him, "So if you are not down here in five seconds, I will destroy you. Okay? And I mean five, four, three, two-"

"One." Two voices said from behind her, scaring her badly. She turned around ready to attack, when she noticed two pairs of eyes, one red and one blue, glowing at her. It was both Scott and Derek. Scott wasn't even trying to hide the smile on his face.

"I hate you both." She told them. Scott walked off with a smile on his face, "You better sleep with one eye open Scotty!" She yelled after him, before turning her attention to Derek. "You're really here." She said breathlessly.

"I did get your message." Derek told her knowingly.

"Well you're too late," Stiles told him while trying to act annoyed, "The situation has already been handled. Scott managed to save the day."

"Oh?"

"Yep," She said proudly, giving him a smug smile. "So you can go back to New York."

"Actually," Derek responded, stepping closer to Stiles. "I think I'm going to stay here."

"In this locker room?" She scoffed, "Have fun with that," Stiles replied, "It kind of stinks."

"You're going to make me work for it, aren't you?"

"You got that right," She told him handing him a hammer, "You can start by helping me and Scott with this." Derek smiled a bit. He could smell it on Stiles the moment she laid eyes on him. She may have been acting like she was mad at him, but really she was covered in happiness. Derek grabbed Stiles around her waist, catching her by surprise and pulled her into a long kiss.

"Still hate you." She managed to say.

* * *

Back at the hospital Agent McCall began warning Melissa about the patient she was about to see. "Try to keep in mind exactly what this guy's capable of. He's a former electrical engineer who decided to walk onto a school bus with a shrapnel bomb." He informed her, "He left four students dead and a fifth with no legs."

"Just out of curiosity," She stated with an uneasy tone, looking between the door window of the room that held the patient, "Have any of his psychiatrists made any progress?"

"I'm told this is the same thing almost every day." He admitted, "When he gets out, he's going to do it again. And next time, he's going to get it right."

Melissa stood a safe distance away,"Mr. Barrow, do you understand that scar tissue has formed around a piece of shrapnel that remains in your body from a previous injury and that it is now blocking vital functions?" She told him as she read over his medical file.

"Yes."

"Do you understand that we must put you under general anesthesia tomorrow morning in order to remove the obstruction?"

"Do the kids still pull pranks the day before Halloween?" He asked her. That wasn't the answer Melissa expected nor wanted. She eyed the guard a concerned look, but the guard shrugged his shoulders.

"You mean Mischief Night?"

"Where I'm from, we called it  _Hell_  Night." Barrow told her, not looking at her. "Hmm. And, yes, I understand."

Thinking and thankful that the weird part had been moved along, Melissa proceeded with the medical evaluation, "Do you have any allergies to any medications?"

"No."

"Are you taking any medications other than the ones listed here? Temazepam. Divalproex." She noted that Temazpem was for insomnia and Divalproex was for seizures and manic episodes. What was wrong this man?

"I just take what they give me."

"I'm going to need to listen to his heart." Melissa would admit that she didn't say it as confident as she sounded. She tilted in to listen to his heart, "In And out." She instructed him.

"Why don't you just ask the question you really want to ask?" The man whispered in her ear. Melissa feels a chill run over her, but that didn't stop her from not looking the man in the eyes. The chilled feeling increased.

"Why did you do it?"

"I saw their eyes." He told her, "Their eyes were glowing. I saw them. I saw their eyes!" Which triggered Barrow into a screaming rage, "Their eyes were glowing! Their eyes were glowing! Their eyes were glowing!"

Melissa was placed out the room, before she even had a chance to register what occurred.

* * *

Scott and The Twins arrived at school on their motorcycles at the same time. Scott was surprised that they even showed up. "You're back in school?" Scott questioned them.

"No, just to talk." Ethan told him.

"Oh." Stiles said appearing with Isaac by her side, "That's kind of a change of pace for you guys." She said with a fake smile, folding her arms. "Usually, you're just hurting, maiming, and killing."

"You need a pack." Aiden told Scott, ignoring Stiles' jab, "We need an Alpha."

"Yeah." She laughed halfheartedly, "Absolutely not. That's hilarious though." Suddenly dead serious.

"You came to us for help." Aiden reminded her, "We helped."

"You beat his face into a _bloody_ pulp." She countered, "That's not helping. In my opinion, that's actually  _counter_ -productive."

"Why would I say yes?" Scott questioned them.

"We'd add strength. We'd make you more _powerful_." Aiden reasoned, "There's no reason to say no."

"I can think of one." Isaac told them, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder, "Like the two of you  _holding_  Derek's claws while Kali  _impaled_  Boyd." He gritted, "In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now."

"You want to try?" Aiden growled at him. Aiden's eyes flashed the bright blue as Isaac took a step toward him with claws out, only for Stiles to hold him back.

"Come on Isaac," She told him lightly. Isaac turned at her with accusing eyes, "We don't need a  _werewolf_  brawl in front of the school." Stiles whispered softly, taking a hold of his clawed hand. Isaac retraced the claws and shot the twins another heated glare before Stiles guided him away.

"Sorry, but they don't trust you." Scott told them, "And neither do I." Scott admitted, before following suite.

"What now?" Ethan inquired Aiden, but Aiden had been looking at the BHHS sign. Ethan knew exactly what his brother was thinking, "No." Ethan declared with a head shake, "No way."

"We never finished." Aiden said with a cheeky smile.

"And we don't have to."

"What if I want to?"

"You...You seriously want to go back to high school?" He questioned still not comprehending on what has gotten into his twin, "Is this about Landon?"

"This is about getting Scott to change his mind." Aiden responded, "We're not just Betas anymore. We're Omegas." He said, in other words they were right where they were before Deucalion, "The bitches, remember? When everyone we've screwed over finds out we don't have a pack anymore, what do you think's going to happen? We're dead on our own."

"That's still better than being back in high school." Ethan remarked glancing around the campus, "I'm not doing it. No way." He projected until his eyes fall on a particular classmate talking to his ex, the two eyes connected, "I'm not taking math."

"I'll take it for you."

* * *

_Just so you know the twins are back in town_ , Stiles told Derek.

_How do you know? What did they want? Did they threaten you?_

_Calm yourself, we sort of needed their help earlier and I knew Landon was still in contact with Aiden. No they didn't, though Isaac did want to end them right then and there. They claim in wanting to be part of the pack._

_What did Scott say?_

_He didn't agree, For once he made a smart decision._

_Just be careful alright. I don't trust them._

_You don't trust anybody._

_I trust you and Scott._

_Wow Derek, we really have come a long way._  Stiles told him in a mocking tone.

 _Don't you have school?_  Derek asked in an annoyed tone.

_Nice way to regress_

_Shut up_

_There's the Derek I know, I'll harass you later._

Inside the school, chaos reigned with rolls of toilet paper flying through the air and kids running up and down the halls. In the midst of it all, a golf ball headed towards Stiles and she narrowly missed getting hit in the face, "All right, that's my face!" She shouted in the hall, but no one owned up to it. She spotted Scott by his locker, "Hey, dude, good decision, buddy." She told him, "Good  _Alpha_  decision."

"I hope so."

"No, you know so." She told him, but then she captured him not paying attention, "What are you looking at?"

"Me?"

"You looking at her?" Stiles questioned. Scott had been staring at Kira as she placed items into her locker.

"Who her?"

"Kira." Stiles said, "Are you worried about her?"

"No." Scott answered quickly, "I mean yeah, I did push a heavy set of lockers one-handed in the locker room."

"Well, you did save her life." Stiles told him, "If anything I bet she's just nervous around you and super strength. Who knows maybe you two could be friends."

"Stiles, I think scared her in the locker room, I doubt she would want to be friends with me."

"Right now. Scott, I don't think you get it yet." Stiles told him, "You're an  _Alpha_. You're the  _apex_  predator.  _Everyone_  wants you. You're like the hot girl that every guy wants." Stiles told him as they started making their way down the hall.

"The hot girl?"

"You are the  _hottest_  girl." Stiles assured him.

"What?" Isaac asked coming from the opposite direction.

"I'm the hot girl." Scott told him, with a smile on his face.

"Yes, you are." Isaac agreed without question, earning him a goofy-grin from Scott.

* * *

Entering his office, Coach Finstock was ready to be pranked, "Peek-a-boo!" He searched for hidden wires or a bucket suspended over the door, but nothing appears out of the ordinary. On the other hand, he did spot a wrapped box on his desk and poked at it with a lacrosse stick. Satisfied that there are no obvious booby traps, he opened the box and sees that it's filled with screws. "That's all you got? That's it?" He happily amused at the poor prank, but that changed when he lifted up the box that had been connected to a wire. All of the pictures and shelves fall off his walls as a result. Apparently, the screws inside the box had formerly been holding them securely in place.

He slammed his palm down in frustration and sat down in his chair. That doesn't last long due to the pranksters also removing the screws holding his chair together as it collapsed under his weight. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled, which was echoed into the classroom, where Scott and Stiles along with the rest class laughed.

"Mischief Night, Devil's Night. I don't care what you call it." Finstock stormed in the room on a tangent, "You little punks are evil." Stiles couldn't hold back the smile on her face. "You think it's funny every Halloween my house gets egged? A man's house is supposed to be his castle. Mine's a frickin' omelet." Finstock eyes fall on another wrapped gift on his desk. "Oh, this? We're gonna do this again?" He declared to his class, holding it up.

"I don't think so." He threw the box on the floor and smashed it with his foot. A sound of glass breaking, filled the room. Finstock bends down to investigate and discovers a broken coffee mug adorned with his picture and the caption "#1 Coach" along with a card, "Happy Birthday." "Love, Greenberg." He said with some disdain.

Meanwhile, Landon was swatting around the air, due to a noise that kept hovering around his head, from across the room Danny watched Landon's odd behavior. "What are you doing?" Danny questioned him.

"There's a fly." Landon explained.

"Nothing's there."

Landon looked around and sees that Danny was right, but the buzzing sound was still coming from somewhere. He looked up to the ceiling and the sound of flies became a more uniform buzz.

* * *

In the operating suite at Beacon Hills Hospital, William Barrow was in the middle of surgery. "Anybody else here think I should make a minor slip and let this bastard bleed out on the table?" The head surgeon asked. Melissa, who was also part of the operation team, gave him an alarmed look, "That's just a little surgical humor, Melissa. Relax." He told her.

Once, they finally opened up Barrow, the doctor appeared shocked at what they found, "That's not shrapnel." As he turned away to get another set of tools something inside Barrow's open wound begins to pulsating and getting bigger until it finally burst opened and flies swarmed out into the room. Barrow then awoke from the anesthesia, grabbed a scalpel, and goes after the doctor.

By the time Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall arrived they see Melissa on the floor, with the bleeding doctor. "He's gone. Barrow's gone." She told them.

* * *

Back in his Beacon Hills loft, Derek Hale was using a fishhook to reattach Peter Hale's finger. The process was painful, "Ow! Don't you have any anesthetic?" Peter asked him.

"Yep." Derek said not hiding an amused smirk on his face.

"Well, are you at least going to tell me what I risked life  _and_  digit for?" Peter complained.

"I'm going to show you." Derek told him. He opened the container they retrieve with Braeden and poured four werewolf claws onto the table. "After the fire, that's all that was left of her."

"Talia." Peter realized, "I can't decide if that's touching or  _morbid._  I guess the real question is, what are you planning on doing with them?"

"I have to ask her something." Derek confessed, "And from what I've heard, this is the only way it's possible." He looked pointedly at Peter.

"You gotta be kidding me." The wooden container, in which the claws were kept, was apparently specially designed for this purpose as it has four finger holes in the bottom.

"Why else do you think I sewed your finger back on?"

* * *

Melissa and the Sheriff were in the aftermath of the OR the once buzzing flies were now dead, "They came out of Barrow. Out of his tumor." She told him.

"Is that even possible?"

"Maggots can come from the body. It's called myiasis." She explained, "But from the stomach? It's not likely." She supplied, "And there's something else. Last night, he told me why he killed those teenagers."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded, "I read the report. Glowing eyes."

"We know a few kids that  _fit_  that description."

"Listen up, everyone." Agent McCall came rushing from down the hall, "The stolen ambulance has been spotted. Corner of Truman and Spaulding."

"That's three blocks from the school." The Sheriff announced, "Let's go."

Landon was by his locker, when Aiden appeared by his side, "Oh, no. I don't think so." He started to say closing his locker, "There's no way you come back here after two weeks of nothing," Landon said to him, looking directly at Aiden who had a smile on his face, "With your cute little smile, the dark eyes, the brooding forehead, the muscles, and suddenly we're ripping each other's clothes off in Coach's office. No way. It's not gonna happen."

One second later they were wrapped in each other's arms, stumbling into Coach's office. They came up for air long enough to realize that the desk was broken (another side-effect from the prank).

"Guidance office?" Aiden suggested.

"Okay." Landon told him. As they close the door, William Barrow stood from behind the door the entire time. Barrow picked up a staple gun from the floor and began to staple his wound closed.

* * *

The FBI and the Sheriff's Department had started to seal off the school. "Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Stiles exclaimed, "The William Barrow? The Shrapnel Bomber? Spotted nearby?"

"A little closer than nearby, actually." The Sheriff admitted.

"How do we get down to the basement?" Agent McCall asked them, "I need to know where every entrance is. I don't want anybody coming in or out of the school." He told them and continued on his way without even getting an answer.

"Dad, what's really going on here?" Stiles asked.

Stiles met up with Allison, Isaac, and Landon in an abandoned classroom, "Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes?" Isaac questioned from the information, "He said those exact words?"

"Yeah. And no one knows how he woke up from anesthesia." She explained, "Just that when they opened him up, they found a tumor full of live flies, which in any other circumstance would be all kinds of awesome."

"Did you say flies?" Landon asked her. He feels a chill and his face turned to worry.

"Landon?" Allison asked worriedly.

"All day I have been  _hearing_  this sound." He shared, "It's like this buzzing."

"Like the sound of flies?"

" _Exactly_  like the sound of flies."

* * *

Kira and Mr. Yukimura were in his classroom eating lunch. Kira was taking pictures of her father with her phone.

Mr. Yukimura asked why Kira was sitting with him instead of eating in the cafeteria with other students. She explained that she hasn't made any friends yet and doesn't really understand why. She reminded him she had friends at her old school but in Beacon Hills, every time she opened her mouth she "starts rambling like an idiot."

"The only thing that showed any interest in me was a rabid coyote." Kira said sadly.

"Maybe the coyote could be your friend." Her father joked.

"You're not funny, Dad." Kira told him with a straight face, "I just want to make a few friends." Scott stood outside the door.

Stiles and Landon were still outside when Scott caught up to them, "The police are leaving." Landon told them, "Why are they leaving?"

"The police?" Scott questioned.

"They must have cleared the building and grounds," Stiles said looking around, "Which means he's not here."

"Who?" Scott questioned them, still being ignored, "What are you guys-"

"He has to be here." Landon pressed, shaking his hand, "That sound the buzzing I've been hearing? It's getting  _louder_."

"How loud?" Stiles questioned, but then she caught sight of her dad about to leave the campus, "Dad! Dad!"

"Yeah?"

"You can't leave yet." She told him.

"We got an eyewitness that puts Barrow by the train station." The Sheriff told her.

"Let's go, Stilinski." Agent McCall called out to the Sheriff.

"Dad, please just Landon said that he's still here."

"Did he see him?" The Sheriff questioned.

"Not exactly. No." She confessed with a head tilt, "Well, not at all actually. But he has a feeling. A  _supernatural_  feeling."

"Landon wasn't on the chessboard." Was the only response the Sheriff could think of.

"He is now."

"Kanima?"

"Um, Reaper."

"Oh, God." The Sheriff said, rubbing his hand down his face.

"I know. I know how it sounds." Stiles told him, "But basically it means that he can  _sense_  when someone's close to death."

"Can he sense that I'm about to kill you?" The Sheriff whispered angrily at her.

"I don't know." Stiles confessed. She looked over at Landon, who was leaning on a pole. Landon noticed them looking and gave them a small wave.

"All right, look, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but right now, I'm going with eyewitness over Reaper." The Sheriff explained, "We're leaving a few deputies here. The school's on lockdown till 3:00. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out." Stiles began to make a protesting face, but the Sheriff silenced her, "Stiles, that's the best I've got right now. That's the best I can give you." He started walking away.

"You’re leaving me here, isn't." Stiles said, shaking her head. "That is the  _worst_." But the Sheriff continued to walk away.

 _Stiles!_ A voice entered inside her head in a very loud manner.

Stiles grabbed her head at the sudden assault, _Good God, must you be so loud_

 _Finally! Your heartbeat has been raising,_ Derek's voice entered into her head softer. _Are you okay?_

_Aside from a minor headache you just caused no. There's a mass murder on the loose somewhere around here. But everything is under control. So you don't have to come here._

"Too late." He said out aloud, appearing from behind her.

* * *

Melissa met with Scott in the school hallway. "You got it?" He asked her. She handed him the clothes.

"Promise me you'll be careful." Melissa told him, "I looked right in this guy's eyes, and it was terrifying."

"I promise." Scott told her and kissed her on the forehead.

At the door to the school basement, Scott met up with Aiden, Ethan, Isaac, and Derek, "Landon thinks that he's still here even though the cops searched the whole school." Scott explained, "But they didn't have one thing our sense of smell." He handed them an article of clothing.

In a classroom, Allison, Stiles and Landon met up for their part of the plan. The plan was for Allison to sneak out of the school, "The Bestiary is literally a thousand pages long. If I'm going to find anything about flies coming out of people's bodies, it could take me all night." She told them. She started to open up one of the classroom windows.

"And remember, the word in archaic Latin for fly is musca." Landon told her, when she was halfway out.

"Got it." And then she was gone. Which left Stiles and Landon to their own devices.

"Where do we start?" Landon asked her.

"Upstairs." Stile told him and looked up at the clock. It read 2:35 pm, "We gotta go."

* * *

In a basement hallway, "So this is how it's gonna be now?" Isaac questioned Scott, "We trust them?" They ended up splitting into groups.

"Cause if you are, someone is going to have to tell Stiles that her Alpha just made a stupid mistake." Derek told him.

"Just because I'm letting them help, doesn't mean I trust them." Scott told them. Scott looked right at Derek, "And I'm her best friend, okay."

"Yeah, well, I don't trust them either." Isaac told him, "Or like them. In fact, I hate them and just want them to die." Isaac informed them.

"Well, if Barrow's actually here and he's got a plan, you might get what you want." Scott told him. Isaac smiled to himself and they continued on their search.

On what was labeled the "EAST" hallway in the basement, Aiden and Ethan search together. Ethan apparently heard something and they pause before jumping around a corner. "You got something?" Aiden asked him as they looped around the corner.

Danny and his ex-boyfriend were standing there kissing. Aiden laughed behind Ethan's back. Ethan, was shocked and managed to say "Oh really?" in a choked voice. Danny started to look a little sheepish while his ex looked away awkwardly.

* * *

In the art classroom, Landon and Stiles continued their search. "Scott, Derek and Isaac are in the basement, right?" Landon asked her.

"Yeah, with Ethan and Aiden." Stiles told him, "The plan is they meet in the middle, in the boiler room."

Seeing a picture of a nuclear mushroom cloud on a wall Landon realized something very important, "All of the wolves. All of the ones with  _glowing_  eyes are in the basement at the  _boiler_  room?" Landon questioned her.

"Oh, my God!" Stiles said realizing the same thing, "An engineer could use a boiler room to blow up the whole school."

"We have to get them out of there." Landon told her, "Link with Derek and tell him that he and the others need to get out."

"Landon, we have to get  _everyone_  out."

"How do we do that?"

Stiles ended up pulling the fire alarm to evacuate the school. She always wanted to do that and smiled at proudly Landon with a thumbs-up, but Landon slowly shook his head and made a distress face. Stiles turned around to see that Finstock was glaring right at her.

"Wow. Pulling a fire alarm on Mischief Night is one thing." Finstock ranted her, grabbing her by her backpack and leading them outside, "Doing it when there's a mass murderer spotted nearby is  _insane_!" He told her, "If I was four years younger, I'd  _punch_  you."

"What?" Stiles asked obviously wondering what he was talking about, "Coach, that doesn't make sense."

"Oh, well, it does to me!" He shot at her.

Scott and the other wolves join Stiles and Landon in the outside area of the school. Derek made it a point to stand in front of Stiles away from the twins. "We didn't find anything." Aiden told them.

"Not even a scent." Scott shared.

"It's 3:00, so school's over." Stiles told them, looping her way around Derek, who halted her with his arm around her waist. "If there was a bomb, wouldn't he have set it off by now?"

"Does that mean everybody's safe?" Aiden asked them. The group then turned to Landon.

"I don't know." He said uneasily, "I just I don't know."

* * *

In the library, Kira had her earbuds in and couldn't hear the fire alarm. It wasn't until Finstock appeared, "How loud are you playing that thing?" He questioned over the noise, "Let's go! Get the hell out of here!" In the next row of books over, William Barrow appeared watching as they leave.

Stiles made her way over to the jeep and found someone waiting for her. "Are we going to go back to the stalker level: Derek Hale?"

"You didn't answer me." Derek told her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked slinging her backpack into the back of the jeep. "I didn't get anything from you. What were you doing here anyway?"

"Earlier, your heart-rate was raising. I tried to contact you, but you didn't respond. And when you did I was already here."

"Tends to happen when you find out there's a mass murderer on the loose." Stiles told him, but there was a look on Derek's face. "Hey, I'm sorry. I've just been caught up with all the festivities. Almost had a golf ball implant my face."

"Can't have that." He told her, before he could say anything else Stiles received a text.

"Hey, I gotta go." Stiles told him quickly, "Landon and I are going to figure something out."

"Yeah, ok." He said in a rough tone, but Stiles didn't notice because she quickly hopped into the jeep and sped off. Derek stood by himself, wondering why Stiles hadn't felt him earlier. He quickly realized it wasn't the first time either.


	6. Galvanize pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep up it guys! Last time I checked we were in the lead. We can do this if we band together. For us and only us! Give them hell! Speaking of hell...

Derek headed back to the loft and found Peter waiting for him. "Is your little human okay?" Peter asked him in tone that obviously said he didn't actually care.

"Yeah, let's just get started." Derek told him in a rough tone, pointing at the claws that remained on the table.

"You know, there's always an element of danger to rituals like this." Peter advised him, "I'm not particularly fond of them. Unless they somehow benefit me." He added in slyly.

Derek rolled his eyes, "What do you want?" He sitting down in a chair, while Peter sat on the couch.

"I want to keep them." Peter told him, earning him a raised eyebrow, "Sentimental value." This earned him a double eyebrow raise and a look that read 'I'm not buying what you're selling'. Peter huffed at the reactions that he was getting, "She was your mother, but she was also my sister." Derek still didn't budge, "What? Am I not allowed a little bit of sentiment?"

Derek just handed him the container wordlessly. Peter shot him a look, but reluctantly took hold of it. He had his hand over the opening of the container, but he hesitated. Which didn't sit well with Derek.

"Too long." Derek gritted and forcing Peter's hands into the container, despite Peter's protest.

* * *

At Kira's house Mr. Yukimura invited Scott for dinner. Kira isn't sure if her dad is trying to ruin her life or what because she wasn't even remotely dressed for any type of company.

In the end, Kira ended up sitting next to Scott at the dinner table. Her father claimed that it was because Scott had saved her from being coyote food. "So, Scott, I'm sure that as a native Californian, you've eaten at some pretty impressive Japanese sushi restaurants." Ms. Yukimura told him, "But I have to tell you that my husband is a superb chef."

Mr. Yukimura has prepared sushi, "Okay, we have hamachi, uni, ikura, and hirame." He announced to the table. Scott's face turned into confusion.

"You've never eaten sushi before, have you?" Ms. Yukimura asked noticing the look.

"Is it all raw?" Scott asked.

"Not the rice." Mr. Yukimura told him.

Kira noticed the questioning look on Scott's face. "Oh, my God, guys." She claimed to her parents, "We were supposed to have  _lasagna_  tonight."

"I was trying to impress him." Her father claimed, "I didn't want to bring out the-" Kira shot him a look, "You know what? I'll make lasagna."

"Oh, no, no! It's okay." Scott jumped in, "I can try anything." He stared at the chopsticks in his hands and back at the sushi, "Really."

When he fumbled with his chopsticks, Kira quickly taught him how to hold them. On his second piece of sushi, Scott managed to drop it only for Kira to catch it a piece of sushi in midair in reflex.

"Thanks." Scott told her. Kira gave him a nervous smile.

Ms. Yukimura observed the interaction and looked pointedly at her husband, "Sushi?"

* * *

Landon was lying on Stiles' bed. She had constructed her very own elaborate (some might say obsessive) murder board on two walls of her bedroom. Stiles pinned a red piece of yarn from a picture of William Barrow to a picture of the high school. "What do the different colored strings mean?" Landon asked noticing the different colors, on her desk.

"Oh, just different stages of the investigation." She told him, looking away from the board, "So green is _solved_ , yellow is to be _determined_ ," She explained. Landon questioned her with the blue yarn ball that remained on herbed, "Blue's just pretty." She told him.

"What does red mean?"

"Unsolved."

"You _only_ have red on the board." He pointed out.

"Yes, I'm aware." Stiles expressed to him, "Thank you." She turned back at the board with a marker in her mouth. It was silent for a moment, before Landon spoke again.

"Did you get detention for pulling the alarm?"

"Yep. Every day this week." Stiles said casually, "It's okay, though. We were onto something."

"Even though we couldn't find any proof of Barrow being there?"

Stiles didn't miss the doubt tone in his voice, "Hey, Landon. You've been right every time something like this has happened, okay?" She reminded him, "So don't start doubting yourself now."

"No scent. No bomb." He reminded her, "And I got you in trouble."

"Okay, look. Barrow was there. All right?" She told him lying on the bed next to him this time, "You knew it. You felt it. Okay?" She nudged him with her shoulder, "And look, if you wanted to, I'd go back to that school right now and search all night just to prove it." She then removed the top from a felt tip marker and sniffed. A realization came to her, "Get up. Get up now." Stiles told him, Landon gave a questioning look, "We're going to the school."

* * *

Allison was still searching the pages of the bestiary on her computer, when the noise of someone walking echoed through the apartment. She doesn’t turn her attention away from the computer. Not even as a sizzling sound filled the air followed a high pitched yelp, which just as easily followed by another, equally high pitched, cry.

"Electrified the windows?" Isaac asked her when he got to the doorway, still recovering from the shocks.

"Yep." Allison told him, remaining poker-faced still facing the computer.

"Didn't wanna say anything about it?" He asked as he walked into the room.

"Nope." This time Allison broke into a smile, "What are you doing here?"

"Scott figured you could use an extra pair of eyes," Isaac expressed, "He's got caught with that thank-you dinner with Kira and her parents."

"Ah," Allison commented, "Well, he did save her from becoming coyote food." Allison said softy.

"All you gotta do is talk." Isaac told her.

"To Who? Scott?"

"Yeah," Isaac said with a shoulder shrug, "Stiles and I know that you two want to be together, but both are too stubborn to do so."

There was a moment of silence between them. Allison knew Isaac was right, but no way is she ready to actually admit so. "Do you know how to read Latin?" She asked, changing the subject.

"No." He leaned over her shoulder, "But I can look at pictures." Isaac realized that someone was going to have to give Allison and Scott the push they need.

* * *

"That's not exactly my color." Peter commented onto Talia's claws embedded into his own fingers. "This is going to be excruciatingly painful."

He stood behind Derek, who sat in a chair in the middle of the room. "Just do it." Derek commanded.

"Oh, I'm going to." Peter said, "I just wanted you to know we all have our  _petty_  revenges." And stabbed Derek in the back of the neck with the claws.

Back at the Yukimura house, "So you guys moved here from New York?" Scott asked.

"I have family ties here." Ms. Yukimura explained, "Several generations."

"Yukimura is Japanese, right?"

"Yes. Yes, but I'm actually Korean." Mr. Yukimura explained, "When my wife and I married, I took her name, as she was the only surviving member of her family."

"You didn't want to take both names?"

"We were married in Japan, where the law says that the couple must share the same name." He explained, "To belong to the same koseki. My wife's lineage is quite unique. I was actually going to discuss it in class."

"Please don't." Kira begged.

"Kira." Her father chastised, "You should be proud of your heritage. It was a profound honor to join your mother's family."

Scott started to make a choking sound, "Scott, what happened to your wasabi?"

"I thought it was guacamole." Scott choked out, taking a drink of his water.

* * *

In the science classroom at school, "So what are we looking for?" Landon asked her as Stiles heads to the chemical closet. When Stiles turns the handle it opens. She gives Landon a surprised look, "That was supposed to be locked."

"Yeah. I know." Stiles stated, "Notice anything else?"

They get overwhelmed with the smell of chemicals. "Chemicals. They wouldn't have been able to catch his scent." Landon realized.

Stiles happened to look on the floor and noted blood and staples, "He was here, performing very minor surgery on himself." Stiles said, looking over at Landon. "You were right."

"Then why don't I feel good about this?"

"Probably because he was here to kill somebody." They both leave the closet.

"But who?"

"That's what we gotta figure out. We could spread out, start looking for anything." She told him, but she sees that there was something written on the blackboard. "Landon, what are those?" They both walk up to the blackboard to get a better look. On the blackboard the number are written 19 53 88.

"Atomic numbers." Landon realized.

"Is it a formula?"

"Not really." Landon told her, "19's potassium. The first two make potassium iodide." He writes the letter K by the number 19.

"Potassium is K?"

"From kalium, the scientific neo-Latin name." Landon explained writing the letter for iodine.

"What's radium?"

"R-A." Landon writes.

"Kira." Stiles spoke.

_Derek is inside a dream version of his loft. The Nemeton is there. A large black wolf enters and leaps atop the magic stump. The wolf appears to Talia's animal form. He stares into the wolf's eyes and they turn red._

* * *

In Kira's room Scott was talking to his mom, catching her up on the events of the night. Melissa was having a night shift at the hospital. Before they hung up, he asked her why she didn't change her name when she and his father divorced. Melissa explained she didn't change it back because McCall was Scott's name too.

Not a moment later Kira comes with pizza and pepsi, "Oh, thank God. No offense to sushi." Scott told her with a laugh.

"Yeah, we probably should have started you out on California rolls." She said to him.

Back at the Argent apartment, "You find anything?" Isaac asked Allison.

"There's a reference about flies being able to carry messages to the dead." Allison confessed to him from her computer desk, "What about you?"

"Oh, just Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies." He told her.

"Are you serious?"

"What?"

Allison started to laugh, "Nothing, I just remembering hating that book with a passion."

"I liked it." Isaac confessed, "Kids stranded on an island, trying to survive on their own. Survival of the Fittest."

"Not to mention they suddenly turned on each other."

"I'll give you that."

They were so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't realized that Chris Argent walked into the room.

"Allison." Which caused both Isaac and Allison to jump up, "Can I see you in my office?" He gave a look at Allison, "Where I keep my _guns_." This time he looked pointedly at Isaac as Allison walked out the room.

Isaac took a breath of relief, but not before he heard Chris yelling, " _Another_ werewolf?" in an outraged manner.

* * *

Derek returned to the real world. Peter bombarded him with questions, but Derek couldn't find the ability to answer. Derek turned to his uncle with a look of fear and confusion, "That can't be good." Peter commented. Derek felt like he might throw up.

Scott and Kira were saying goodnight on the street in front of her house. Kira told Scott he was special not just because he saved her from a coyote, but also because he remembered her name. Neither of them were prepared when William Barrow ran up behind Scott and hits him in the head with a metal pipe.

"Scott! Scott? Scott!" Stiles called out to him. Scott finds himself surrounded by Landon and Stiles.

"Barrow, he took Kira!" Scott told them.

"We know." Stiles stated, "He was after her the whole time."

They reached Isaac by phone, but he wasn't helpful either providing them the information about flies and the dead. "We have to think of something. He's going to kill her." Scott told them.

"I knew he was there." Landon told them, " _How_  did I know that?"

"Because you heard the flies, right?" Stiles questioned him.

"What do you hear now?" Scott asked.

"Nothing. I feel like I can do this." He explained to them, "But I don't know what to do. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, and I don't know how to trigger it." He shook in frustration, "I just-I swear to God, it literally makes me want to  _scream_."

"Okay, then scream." Stiles told him, which earned her a look of confusion, "Landon, scream."

Landon does so. Due to the power of Landon's scream it shook the ground, but he was able to hear the buzzing sound from the streetlight nearby, "It's not flies." He realized, looking at the light. "It's electricity."

"Wait a second, Barrow was an electrical engineer." Stiles remembered, "He worked at a power substation."

"What substation?" Scott wondered.

* * *

Inside the substation Kira was tied up on the floor with dirty extension cords while William Barrow rips out one of the large power lines and scrapes is along a chain-link fence as it sprays sparks, "What are you doing?" Kira asked in tears.

"Right now? Ah. Right now, I'm gonna take your picture." Barrow told her. Barrow placed the cable down long enough to take Kira's picture with her phone, "Hmm. Just a little proof of our time here together. A little proof for all of those people who never  _believed_."

"Okay, you got your picture." Kira told him still in tears, "You want to let me go now?"

Barrow didn't answer her question, "Did you ever see a movie called Village of the Damned? The original. Not the remake. Nobody cares about crappy remakes. I'm talking about the 1960 black-and-white masterpiece. Huh? It's about this group of children. Blonde-haired, beautiful children who can make their eyes glow." He explained, but Kira was too scared to say anything.

"And they do terrible, terrible things. The tag line on the poster read, "Beware the stare that will paralyze the will of the world." Now, when I told everyone that I saw children with glowing eyes, they wouldn't believe me. I tried to get them to do something. But they wouldn't budge. They wouldn't move. As if they had been paralyzed." He took a hold of a cable cord, "I am going to shake them out of their paralysis. I'm going to get them moving. I'm going to I am going to _galvanize_ them."

Landon, Stiles and Scott arrived at the substation, "Wait here, all right?" Stiles directed to Landon grabbing he bat, "The cops are on their way."

"Me? Why?" He asked in protest.

"I only got one bat." She told him, holding up her aluminum bat.

* * *

Scott spotted Kira tied up and rushed to her aid, "Scott! Look out!" Kira warned him. But it was too late as he smacked Scott with the live wire sending him flying. On the other side of the substation Stiles heard Kira's cry out.

Scott was in trouble. She tried summoning up her spark, but it didn't seem to work. There was no way for her to orb herself to Scott. She lets out a frustrated sound and began running her way through the building.

While still vibrating from the shock, Scott tried to distract Barrow from Kira saying "she's not the one you want." But, due to the pain from the electricity, he couldn't make his eyes glow and Barrow ignored him.

Turning to Kira he touched her with the wire. Kira glowed bright white and Barrow was blown backwards. The glare was blinding and Scott had to shield his eyes. Once, the light subsided he sees Kira is absorbing all the electricity into her hands. The sparks fly towards her as every light in Beacon Hills begins to flicker and eventually goes dark.

Isaac was in the Argent's apartment when the lights go out. Three shadowy figures surround him. All of them wearing black Japanese masks. The door slams shut and locks. Allison and Chris both heard sound of furniture breaking and fighting. They rush into to hall only to see the door closed. They try to force their way in, calling Isaac's name.


	7. Illuminated pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys we did it. So proud of us! I'll be out of town for the next TWO weeks without internet (Horror! I already don't have cable either! Going into the dark ages!) So the next update for Hellmouth after this weekend will be on the 29th! If I somehow manage to even get the internet, I'll post another fanfic I have in the making to hold you guys until I can actually update Hellmouth! Next update will be later today as always!

Neighborhood kids were smashing jack-o-lanterns on Halloween night. Suddenly a skein of five Demon Warriors appears out of the mist. They stop what they are doing as the Demon Warriors made their way down the street.

They passed the children by without a glance.

* * *

Allison and Chris managed to finally get the bedroom door open, only to find Isaac laying on the floor shivering, "He's freezing." Allison realized, when she actually touched him, he's colder than she realized, "Dad, he's like  _ice_."

"Isaac, look at me." Chris ordered the werewolf, "Isaac." But Chris doesn't get an answer.

"What's happening to him?"

"Isaac, listen. You have to turn." Chris told him shaking him, "Look at me. You need to  _trigger_  it. Come on. Turn! Turn!"

And then Chris proceeded to punching Isaac continuously, "Turn!" Chris yelled at him. It isn't until about the seventh hit did Isaac's eye glow the beta yellow and he returned to his normal self with minor shakes.

"Did you see them?" He asked the Argents as he managed to control himself. It all happened so fast, but just as quickly as they appeared they had also vanished.

"Who?" Allison asked worriedly.

"There were five of them. They wore black." Isaac managed to say, "I couldn't... I couldn't see their faces. They were covered."

"What do you mean? Like masks?"

"One of them... I could see his eyes." Isaac mind flashed to the first figure that had appeared by his side, "They were greenish-yellow. Like a... Like a firefly."

"Security system wasn't triggered." Chris noted.

"Then how did they get in?"

"They didn't." Isaac told them with a head shake, "It was like they came out of the shadows."

That's when the realization started to kick in for Chris, "Do you know what that means?" Allison asked her father noticing the sudden facial expression change, but Chris wasn't responsive, "Dad?"

"Um... I'm not sure." Chris told her with a minor struggle, this was just like what happened long ago, "Listen, the two of you... I need you to keep this quiet for a few hours."

"From everyone?" Isaac questioned him.

"Just 24 hours." He walked out the room and Allison quickly followed him

"They could've killed him." Allison pointed out to her father in a low tone.

"But they didn't." He reminded her, "And I think there's a reason why. I think they might have been after me."

Chris entered his room and retrieved a wooden box from a cabinet. Inside was the same one of the Demon's Hannya broken into pieces.

* * *

Agent McCall attempted to question Stiles, Scott, Landon, and Kira about the incident at the power plant, "So when did you get there?" Agent McCall interrogated Stiles.

"At the same time." Stiles says flawlessly.

"At the same time as who?"

"At the same time as me." Scott told his father.

"By coincidence?"

"What do you mean coincidence?" Stiles asked with a slight head tilt.

"That's what I'm asking you." Agent McCall told them, he gestured between Scott and Stiles, "The two of you arrived at the same time. Was that coincidence?"

"Are you asking me?" Scott pondered.

"No, I think he's asking me." Stiles told her friend.

"I think he's asking the  _both_  of you." Landon told the two trouble-makers.

"Okay, let me answer the questions." Agent McCall told them with an annoyed tone. It isn't until Scott and Stiles exchange small smiles did he realize his mistake, "Let me ask the questions. Just so I have this absolutely clear." He changed his attention to all four of them this time, "Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira. Then Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her, which blacked out the entire town."

"Sounds about right." Stiles agreed with him.

"How did you know he'd take her to a power station?" He questioned with the Stilinski.

"Well, 'cause he was an electrical engineer." Stiles told him, running her hand through her hair, "So where else would he take her?"

Agent McCall shot her a look, "That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles."

"Yeah, what can I say? I take after my pops." This time she gave Agent McCall one of those smiles with a wink, "He's in law enforcement."

From behind him, Agent McCall caught the sound of the Sheriff snorting at Stiles' ability to one up the agent, which resulted the Sheriff in getting a hard stare from Agent McCall, "Stiles, just, uh...Just answer the man." Her father told her.

"We made a good guess." Stiles told him.

Agent McCall sighed at the response and turned his attention towards Scott and Kira, "What were the two of you doing?"

"Eating pizza." Scott answered just as Kira said, "Eating sushi."

They looked at each other for a moment, "Eating sushi." Scott replied, while again Kira said, "Eating pizza."

"Eating sushi and pizza." They both said together.

"You two are just as bad as Scott and Stiles," Agent McCall remarked, "You believe this?" He asked the Sheriff.

"To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since she learned how to speak-"

"Thanks Dad."

"But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time and that girl sitting there is very lucky for it." The Sheriff told him.

"Kira, is that how you remember it?" Agent McCall asked the quiet girl.

Kira got caught off guard with the question directed towards her. She was even more off guard when she noticed that not only was Agent McCall looking at her, but the Sheriff, Stiles, Scott and Landon were as well.

"Yes." She told him. They were free to go, but Kira was still missing a certain item, "Could I get my phone back now?" She asked Agent McCall.

"Sorry, but no. Kira, a deputy is going to take you home." He told her, "But we'll need you to fill out some paperwork first."

Kira watched as an officer took her phone in an evidence bag in a locked room. That required a card key to get in.

Before Scott even has a chance to leave the station his father pulled him aside, "Scott... I don't know why you guys are lying. Or why Stilinski is content to listen to this crap." He looks over at the Stilinskis, "But try and remember something. If half this story about Barrow is true, then not only did someone help set him loose, but he was a pawn in their little game. A mass murderer is bad enough. A mass murderer being _controlled_ by someone? Far worse."

"Yeah, I get it."

"All right, go home. It's a school night."

* * *

The power was still out the next day at Beacon Hills High School, but that doesn't stop the school from being in session. But since the school was without power Coach Finstock made it his civil duty to inform the students of when classes were about to start, "Class starts in five minutes. Just because there's no power don't expect there to be no school." He announced in the halls with a bullhorn.

"That was a triple negative." Stiles pointed out too him, "Very impressive, Coach."

"Copy that." Finstock told her this time having the bullhorn directed right at her, before walking away.

In the process of getting her materials out of her locker, Stiles knocked her keys onto the floor. When she reached down to pick them up, she noticed a specific key, "Where did you come from?" She stared at it until she caught Scott, walking past her trying to make his way over to Kira, "No. No. Stop. Stop." She stopped him by grabbing the end of his backpack.

"What?" Scott claimed, "I need to talk to her."

"No," Stiles stated, "You need to remember someone left a _coded_ message telling Barrow to kill her."

"Which is why I need to talk to her."

"Scott, no way." Stiles protested, "Until we figure out if she's just another psychotic monster that's going to start murdering everybody, I vote against any and all interaction."

"What if she's like me?"

"That girl walked through 1.21 jigawatts of  _electricity."_  Stiles told him, closing her locker, "She's  _not_  like you." While Scott watched a departing Kira, Stiles turned her attention back to the key.

* * *

In the locker room, Danny was on his cellphone, "Don't you have portable generators or something? It's a black light party." From across the room, Ethan used his enhanced hearing to ease-drop in on the conversation, "It's not like you need a ton of power... Okay. Yeah, I get it."

In frustration, Danny slammed his locker door shut. Ethan made an attempt to talk to him, "Black light party?" Ethan asked him. They haven't talked since Ethan caught Danny and his ex.

"More like canceled party." Danny told him, "The venue I booked won't have power for at least another day."

"You want help finding a new place?"

"What's the point? Nothing in town's going to have power." Danny told him with a shrug, "Thanks anyway." Danny offers him a smile before walking away.

From the corner of the lockers Aiden appeared, "You want to throw a Halloween party?" He questioned his twin, "What's next? You gonna join the Yearbook Club?"

Ethan could sense the ridiculing tone in his brother's voice, "Just trying to do something nice."

"Why? Who cares?"

"He does."

Aiden produced a scoffing noise at his brother, which quickly annoyed Ethan. "You don't get it, do you? Scott doesn't care about power." Ethan told him, "He cares about _people_. You want to be a wolf in his pack? Try being a human in high school." Ethan stormed away in a huff.

In chemistry class, Landon's mother WAS substituting for the deceased Adrian Harris. While walking through the classroom Miss Martin had a sidebar with her son, "Sweetheart, since this is my first class and I haven't taught in five years, I just want to remind you of one thing." She told him in a whisper, "Try not to embarrass me."

"You should've thought about that before wearing those shoes." He quirked at her with a smile, "Love you."

Miss Martin gave him a smile, "Love you, too."

Later by his locker, Landon had another encounter with Aiden, "Why's your mom teaching biology?"

"Because Mr. Harris used to teach biology." He told with him while placing his books inside the locker, "Until his new occupation... Human sacrifice." He shot Aiden an uncomfortable look.

"What? I didn't kill him." Aiden defended himself and Landon makes a scoffing sound at him. Aiden noticed the look Landon had, "Landon, what?"

"The other night, I helped  _save_  someone's life. That felt really good." Landon told him, closing the door, "And I look at you, and all I can think is that you  _helped_  kill Boyd and Stiles' can't stop flinching every time you're around. You're not just a bad boy, Aiden." Landon told him sadly, "You're a bad guy and I don't want to be with the bad guys."

This prompted Aiden to approach Danny and offered him a place for the party.

* * *

Stiles was by her locker with a classmate talking about their previous class, "I just can't believe…who in the holy hell is that?" Her classmate asked looking down the hall. The student reaction reminded her of time when Erica had come to school completely transformed after she accepted the bite from Derek…wait a minute. Stiles peeked her head from behind her locker door in the direction the classmate was looking in and could see him storming down the halls.

"Oh no." She whispered hurriedly putting the remaining books in her locker.

"What? Do you know him?"

"That's my cousin…Miguel." Stiles could practically see the flinch on Derek's face.

"Really?" The student asked her, looking over Stiles' shoulder. "Why is he looking like he wants to kill you?"

 _Don't ignore me_ His voice popped into her head.

"I better go find out."

"Good luck." Stiles has a feeling she was going to need it. Stiles made her way over to Derek and could practically feel the anger seeping off of him. As she got closer Derek seized hold of her arm and guided them around a corner into an empty classroom.

"You can't keep coming to this school in broad daylight here." Stiles tells him as soon as Derek closed the door, "Your stalking level has gone overboard."

"What you did last night was completely stupid." Derek chastised her, which completely catches Stiles off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"You cannot go around chasing after mass murderers like that!" Derek snapped at her. "You could've gotten hurt!"

"How did you- He was going to kill someone." Stiles snapped back. One of them had to be the calm one and it didn't look like anyone of them were up for it, "Besides we called the cops. What is your deal? It was a complete human thing nothing supernatural about it."

"I…I know," Derek admitted calmly, "Just the thought of you going after someone who was going for people like me and Scott-"

"Derek," Stiles cuts him off and placed her palm on his cheek, "He didn't go after anyone like that. He went after someone innocent. So clearly the man was probably making up things."

"Is that the story?"

"Yeah, so don't worry about it." Stiles tilted her neck to him. She could feel that unsettled worry, which was the only reason why she even did it. Derek made a small growling sound at the movement and placed his face right into her neck, rubbing into it. "It's over, alright?"

In response, Derek guided Stiles to a bare wall and pushed her against it. Almost as if he was trying to keep her from escaping. He gently took hold of her left hand entwining their hands together.

It came as a surprise to Stiles, but when he pulled back his eyes were glowing the electric blue. It was just that night in the basement at school, so Stiles did what she knew. She gave him a nod and Derek leaned back in and bites right over the mark he left on her those months ago.

"Feel better?" She asked him.

"Yeah." Derek replied softly and presses a kiss onto her mouth.

"Good because unlike you. I have class and I have yet to eat."

"That explains why you smell weird."

"Hey," Stiles remarked with a small push against him, "Keep your 'you stink' comments to yourself."

* * *

Kira was eating lunch by herself in a school hallway, when Scott appeared sitting down right next to her, "I don't want to talk about it." Kira told him with her mouth full.

"Want to talk about the pre-cal test on Friday?" Scott offered, "The teacher takes all the equations right out of the book."

Surprised that Scott didn't even ask about why Barrow would want her, Kira asked him to take a picture of her so she can show him the effects flash photography has on her face.

The picture showed the flames outlining her body. She explained that the strange happenings started a "couple of months" ago and she doesn't know what is causing it. She explained she had to get hold of her phone to erase the pictures Barrow snapped at the substation.

"We need to get your phone back." Scott agreed with her instantly.

* * *

Derek returned to the parking lot right outside his apartment later that night, where he was ambushed by three trick-or-treaters, a devil, a pirate and a vampire. The kids were on edge as Derek slowly reached into his SUV and pulled out a large variety bag of M&M/Mars fun sized candy.

He dropped a piece in each kid's bag. They stand staring at him until he flashed his eyes and, with a roar, bared his fangs. The display sent them screaming into the night.

As Derek turned back to the SUV, with a very clear prideful smile on his face, he was quickly surrounded by the five Demon Warriors.

Aiden and Ethan set up a gas powered generator outside Derek's big loft window. The power came on and they test the black light fixture they attached to one of the support posts.

"Where did you say the guy was who lives here?" Danny asked the twins.

Ethan and Aiden both looked at each suspicious glances, "He's out of town." Aiden said.

* * *

Outside the Sheriff's Station, Stiles was waiting in her jeep when Kira and Scott arrives on his dirt bike. She handed Scott three key cards, "Okay, this one will get you into all of the perimeter doors, this one into the evidence room, and this one's for my father's office." She explained to him pointing at the cards individually.

"You didn't steal these, did you?" Scott asked her as he and Kira stood outside the jeep. Kira was actually wondering the same thing.

"No. I cloned them using the RFID emulator." She stated simply.

"Is that  _worse_  than stealing?"

With a head tilt and a shrug Stiles simply replied with, "It's smarter." Scott didn't bother questioning his friend, "Okay. So, now almost everybody's out dealing with the blackout. But there's always somebody at the front desk. There's Dispatch and usually a night shifter or two." She explained to them and pointed at the side door, "You guys are gonna use that service door. All right? Nobody uses it. Now, I'll text you if anyone comes out." Stiles took a hold of Scott and pulled him close, "But, Scott, if you get caught, I  _can't_  help you. My dad's under investigation for an impeachment because of your dad, so, if anything happens I will run and leave you both for dead." She whispered to him.

"You've done enough as it is, don't worry about it."

"All right, just, uh, hurry up." She told him with a fist bump.

Inside they find Kira's phone, but it was dead and with no power there was no obvious way to charge it. She wanted to just take the phone but Scott knew that would cause more trouble for everyone. He noticed a laptop on the desk in the room they were in. Kira found a charging cable in a desk drawer and they turn on the computer to charge the phone from its battery. When the computer screen flicks on, there was a picture of Scott as a very young child with his father, Agent McCall. He realized that this is his father's laptop and has a little moment of wistfulness as he remembered that period of his life.

* * *

Stiles was still playing around with the extra key on her key ring, but her concentration was broken when she noticed that Agent McCall has pulled up into the parking lot.

"Ah, hell." Stiles groaned mainly because Scott and Kira weren't back yet and Scott wasn't responding to any of her text messages. Inside the station, Kira and Scott were also in a sticky situation because Kira's phone has yet to get enough charge to start up.

"Okay, I'm so going to regret this." Stiles said as she got out her jeep and rushes after Agent McCall, "Aw! Hey, hey. Wow!" She greeted him very dramatically, "Thank God you are here. Oh, boy! Thank the lord." She said with a nervous laugh. They were standing right beside the evidence room.

"What do you want, Stiles?" Agent McCall asked her obviously not in the mood for one of her antics.

"Oh, jeez!" Stiles started stammering and beginning to say the first lie that came out of her mouth, "I was just... I was thinking on the case. I was thinking I should clue you in on my thinking." Stiles expressed while Agent McCall continued to staring rather impatient, "Here's my thinking. I was thinking this... I was thinking that Barrow, right…" Stiles was practically pulling thoughts out of her ass now, "I was thinking that Barrow received the information about who to kill at the school, right, you know that? So I was thinking maybe the person who gave him that information, check this out, might actually be someone at the school. And that's, uh, my thinking."

Kira's phone finally charged and Kira proceeded to delete the pictures.

"You're right." Agent McCall told her.

"I am?" Stiles asked, which caught her off guard. Isn't she always right?

"Yep." He told her plainly, "We, uh... We started looking for links between Barrow, faculty and students last night."

"So you already, then, know that stuff?" Stiles asked to make she follow, "You already thought of that."

"Your dad did."

"Oh."

"His  _one_  useful suggestion." Leave it to Agent McCall to ruin a pleasant conversation.

That insulting meaning behind the statement switched up Stiles' attitude quickly, "You know, this attitude that you have toward my dad?" She said pointedly losing the nervous tone she had earlier," You can dress it up to all the professional disapproval that you want. But I know the  _real_  reason why you don't like him."

Agent McCall chuckled at her, "Is that so?" Stiles knew that he was trying to play off the statement and trying to call her out on her bluff.

"Yeah. Because he knows something that you don't want him to know. And guess what." She stepped closer to him and whispered in his ear, "I know it, too." She moved back catching Agent McCall's eyes and his demeanor completely changes. Some part of her enjoyed seeing him falter.

"Go home, Stiles." He told her in a serious tone, "There's a... There's a curfew."

* * *

Kira, Scott, and Stiles managed to meet back up without any detection. "We did it. All the pics deleted." Scott told Stiles.

"That was awesome!" Kira cheered excitedly, "I mean, terrifying." She exchanged moods quickly, "Completely terrifying... But kind of awesome." She said with a laugh, "I've never done anything like that before. Have you?"

Stiles and Scott exchanged stares and laugh, "Yeah, once or twice." Stiles told her. "Hey, why don't you come to the party tonight?" Stiles offered to her.

Kira took the invitation without hesitation.

* * *

Isaac opened the door to Derek's Loft revealing a group of scantily clad, glow-in-the-dark teens dancing to The Bloody Beetroots. He turned to Allison, "Derek can never know about this." Allison nodded her head in agreement.

Inside the loft Ethan ran into Danny, who has yet to be painted up, "You happy?" Ethan asked him. Danny takes a sip of drink with a smile and looked around at the large crowd dancing to the beat.

"Very."

"Good. Now it's my time to be happy." He grabbed the attention of one of the body painters and points at Danny, "This one needs to get painted up."

"Face or body?"

Danny wasn't sure about what he should get so Ethan decided for him, "Body." And stripped Danny of his shirt.

Someone then shouted that they've run out of ice and Ethan left to find some more. While the artist was painting Danny, a Demon Warrior appeared behind him in the darkness. Catching a glimpse in his peripheral vision, Danny turned to get a better look, but the figure was gone.

Ethan entered a storeroom to grab some ice. The incandescent light bulb began to flicker and goes out. He twisted the bulb and it came back on briefly but goes out. This happens a few times until the Demon Warriors appeared and surround him.


	8. Illuminated pt.2

Stiles, Scott and Kira arrived at the party as Stiles told Scott about the key, "It just showed up there on my key ring this morning. I asked my dad if he put it there but he said he didn't know anything about it."

"It's just a key, right?" Scott questioned her, noticing that Stiles was obsessing over the key a bit too much.

"Yeah, but it's not mine." Stiles reiterated, "And I don't know how it got there or what it's for."

"Do you want to leave to figure it out?"

Stiles doesn’t listen to him because she was busy looking for two certain people in the party. Her eyes landed on Isaac and Allison, "How about you-"

"No way," Scott told her catching her eyesight, "I know exactly what you're thinking."

"If this is another undercover operation," Kira told them with a smile, "I'm all for it."

"Kira!" Stiles said wrapping the girl in a hug, "I knew I was going to like you."

* * *

Aiden ran up to Landon wearing a set of bright orange false fangs. He growled at him, Landon was not amused. "Not as good as the real ones." Aiden told with a playful manner.

"Or as lethal." Landon countered easily.

"Okay, sure. I deserve that." Aiden told him, "I deserve basically everything you say about me. But, you know, I was pretty instrumental setting this up." Aiden bragged slightly.

"All this?" Landon question gesturing at the party, "If I wanted to go to a rave, I'd get in a time machine and go back to the '90s." He snipped before walking away.

Aiden got angry and started to show his real fangs and glowing eyes.

* * *

On the other side of the loft Allison and Isaac stood side by side as Scott and Stiles were staring back at them, "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Nope." Allison said with a strong voice. It didn't matter anyway considering how loud the music was there no chance in Scott overhearing them.

"Do you at least want to tell him what happened?"

"No." Allison said shaking her head and turning to Isaac, "We still have a couple hours, remember? We promised my dad."

"You promised your dad."

"I promised him in order to protect him."

"You did. I didn't".

"Is protecting my father such a bad thing?" She questioned him, "We did it before and we can do it again."

"I don't like keeping secrets from Scott."

"How do you think that makes me feel?" Looking back across the room where she could see Stiles now talking or maybe yelling at Scott. But she couldn't help noticed that Kira was standing close to his side, "Besides it looks like he has moved on."

"Good God, Stiles was right you two are idiots," Isaac commented just at the same time as Stiles smacked Scott upside the head.

"Right about what?"

"You two want the same thing. Only problem is you're both too scared to even try to make an attempt to talk to one another," Isaac recited, "Which is why Stiles and I, mainly Stiles, came up with a plan." Isaac then took a strong hold of Allison' arm and started to force their way through the crowd.

"Isaac, what in the hell do you thinking you're doing?" Allison demanded as Isaac continued to pull her through the crowd, but she didn't get an answer because she was now face to face with Scott also being held captive by Stiles. Stiles had the mischievous look on her face.

_Click_

Both Scott and Allison look between their wrists and see that Stiles had handcuffed them together. "Stiles!" They both yelled at her. Isaac looked amused, Kira looked surprised, and Stiles looked completely unfazed.

"They aren't coming off until the two of you talk it out." Stiles said holding up the key, "Since I'm more than likely to lose the key, Isaac is going to have it. So no _threatening_ ," Stiles looked pointedly at Allison, "Or _overpowering_ him." This time she looked at Scott. Allison and Scott understood exactly what she was saying. "Now nod if you both agree." Both Scott and Allison did, "Good! Now we'll let you two lovebirds get talk it out."

Stiles pulled Isaac and Kira away and leaving Scott and Allison handcuffed to each other.

* * *

Landon was observing the party, leaning against the column. His eyes caught sight of both Scott and Allison handcuffed together, "Nice job Stilinski." From his peripheral vision three blurred shapes caught his eye, turning to the shapes and see that they belonged to the new girl Kira, Stiles, and Isaac. All three of them were dancing incredulously, "Awkwardly." He then noticed Aiden sandwiched between a guy and a girl, "Predictably."

Landon could hear something, a light growling and popping sound. He scanned around the party, but nothing stood out of place. Then the Demon Warriors began to flicker in and out of existence. He made his way outside onto a wide patio-like ledge beyond the loft's giant window. There he managed to catch his breath. But the popping sound returned and one of the Demon Warriors raised up through the concrete. He turned to let out a scream, but another warrior appeared in front of him snatched the sound from his mouth with his hand. It then placed a hand on the left side of his face and its eyes begin to glow.

When the guy behind Aiden suddenly kissed him on the neck, Aiden turned quickly at him. Aiden quickly realized it was Danny. "Ethan?" Danny asked with some uncertainty. Especially, since Aiden looked so caught off guard.

"Aiden."

"Talk about awkward," Danny mumbled, "Where's Ethan?"

"You haven't seen him?"

"I haven't seen him in like half an hour." Danny confessed, Aiden then began to tense up. "Is something wrong?" Danny asked noticing the change.

"I'm going to go find him."

"I'll do the same."

* * *

Isaac had disappeared somewhere leaving Kira and Stiles alone sitting on the spiral staircase, "This is a nice party," Kira commented, "I hope whoever lives here doesn't find out."

Stiles laughed, "Oh man that would be a sight to see." She was still fiddling with the key from earlier and Kira noticed something different about it.

"The key has phosphors on it." Kira commented.

"What are phosphors?" Stiles asked.

"Oh, they're any substance that luminesces. It's in your teeth and your fingernails. Laundry detergent. It's also in this." Kira explained holding up a glow stick, "Reacts to the UV light, that's why it glows."

"How would I get phosphors on my key?"

"Have you been handling chemicals?" Kira asked, "People usually come in contact with it like that."

Stiles flashed back to the chemical closet and how it was unlocked, "Kira you are a super genius!" Kira beamed at the praise, "You are my new best friend. Don't tell Scott though it may hurt his feelings." She stood to get up and Kira stood along with her.

"I promise I won't."

"Look, I have to go check on something, but you should totally stay and mingle," Stiles told her, "Besides I'm sure Scott and Allison are trying to harass Isaac about the key and he'll easily break. He's the most sensitive one of the pack." Stiles started to head off.

"Stiles," Kira shouted out to her. Stiles turned back with a questioning look, "I wanted to say thank you for earlier."

"It's no problem. It's what friends do." With that Stiles gave her a thumbs up and left the party.

* * *

Scott and Allison were no longer handcuffed. They were up on the roof, just above the loft's skylight. Allison noticed that Scott had something on his face, "You got some paint on you." She told him making a gesture at his face.

He laughed awkwardly and attempted to remove the point, "Still there." Allison told him with a laugh.

"Oh..."

Without a second thought, Allison licked her thumb and smeared the paint right off his face, "All gone."

It took a second for both of them realize, what exactly Allison had done.

"Oh, my God!" Scott claimed causing Allison to tense up, "I can't believe you just mommed me."

"I did not mom you." Allison told him relaxing instantly and laughing.

"You totally mommed me." Scott told her as he stepped closer to her.

"Okay, I might have _slightly_ mommed you." Allison confessed to him, but this time she didn't look at him. It reminded her of the times they had when they were together and now here they were having another, but they weren't together.

"Hey Allison?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to talk."

"Yeah, me neither." Allison agreed, "Our words tend to suck." She told him. Scott placed his hand on her cheek and this caused Allison to look at him.

"Our actions are much better." Scott told her just before he planted a kiss on her. Allison doesn't let him go.

* * *

Back inside the loft, the music continued to play. Kira managed to find Isaac who was leaning against the loft wall. "Parties aren't your thing?" Kira questioned him.

"Nah," Isaac replied looking out at the wave of people, "Enclosed spaces and I aren't the best of friends."

"Claustrophobic?"

Isaac gave his head a tilt with some thought, "I guess you can say that." Isaac noticed how Kira was staring at him. "Is there something on my face?" He asked suddenly self-conscious of his appearance.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I was looking at your tattoo." Kira said with some embarrassment.

"I don't have a tattoo."

"Oh? Um…There's something on your head. Behind your ear." She gestured to him.

"Maybe you could show me." Kira nodded as Isaac led her to the storage room where a mirror hung on the wall.

"Right there." Kira pointed so Isaac could see.

"What is that?"

"Looks like a number five." Kira told him, "Are you sure you didn't get a tattoo?"

"Positive." Isaac told her. The number five looked like it had been branded into Isaac' neck. Before Isaac has a chance to process the mysterious number, a groaning sound filled the air.

"Did you hear that?" Kira asked him.

* * *

Outside the giant window, Danny found Landon barely conscious and shivering, he called to Aiden for help. Aiden quickly rushed to his side upon seeing Landon's condition, "Landon?" But all he got was shiver in response, "What happened? What happened to him?"

"I don't know, but he's freezing." Danny told him with some worry, "He's practically hypothermic."

"We gotta get him inside." Aiden picked up Landon in a bridal-style and Danny lead them back inside.

"Over here. There's a heating vent." Danny told him.

Even as Aiden placed Landon near the vent, he wouldn't stop shivering.

"I'm going to try to find a blanket." Danny told him and rushed off.

Isaac and Kira had discovered Ethan on the floor of storage room, in the same state Isaac remembered being in. Isaac took a hold of Ethan's arm, "What are you doing?" Kira questioned him. Isaac forgot that Kira had been with him.

"Kira," He told her in a very low and serious tone, "Whatever happens I need for you to stay calm." Kira nodded without argument.

"As much as I hate you," Isaac told Ethan, "I can't leave you like this."

Isaac then broke Ethan's arm, causing the werewolf eye's to flash blue and Isaac sees something that recently became familiar.

Back at the heating vent, Landon seemed to recover, "Landon?"

"They came out of the dark." Landon told him in a whisper.

"It's the same." Isaac realized looking at the same five on Ethan's neck, "Exactly the same."

* * *

Derek woke up on the pavement below. He jumped to his feet and growled in anger. High up on the roof, Scott heard the angry growl. "Party's about to be over." Scott told Allison and he pulled them both back inside.

Inside the party, Derek stalked his way to the DJ booth, only to have someone block his way. "Bro, sorry, The Bloody Beetroot doesn't take requests." The bouncer told him. Derek tried to side-step, but the bouncer continued to get in his way, "Bro, seriously. I said the DJ doesn't take-"

He got cut off as Derek grabbed hold of him by his throat, "He'll take mine." Derek told him throwing him to the side. Not checking to see if the guy was okay, Derek then overturned the table causing the music to stop and the crowd to stare at him.

"Get out!" Derek yelled dropping is voice in "werewolf range". This caused the entire loft to shake, but the crowd quickly bolted for the exit.

"Get him out of here." Aiden told Danny, who had a hold on Landon.

"Find Scott." Landon told him as Danny led them out.

The other wolves, Allison, and Kira all converged on the loft where the Demon Warriors stood waiting. The warriors all turn as one toward Aiden, who appeared out on the floor. "Guys, they're all looking at me." Aiden realized, "Why are they all looking at me? Guys?"

They all made their way towards Aiden, only Scott and Derek try to stop them. Derek was halfway wolfed out with his fangs and claws out and managed to break one of the necks of the demon warriors, but to his shock it recovered and the wolves were beaten back.

Isaac attempted to help, but the warrior he faces pulls a sword from inside his body and spins it around like a pro – Isaac quickly backed off.

The warriors finally made their way to Aiden and brand him like the others, but then they turned their attention toward Scott.

"Somebody do something!" Allison cried out.

Scott remained firm and baring his teeth and his red eyes, showing everyone in the room his wolf form. But, when the first rays of the rising sun strike them, the demon warriors disappeared into black smoke.

"What the hell were those things?" Scott asked the group.

Isaac looked over at Allison, "Your dad's 24 hours are up."

_Chris Argent stumbled into his apartment badly injured and collapses on the floor. His phone was ringing, it was Allison._

"Where is Stiles?" Derek questioned the group.

"She…she had to...uh...check on something." Kira whispered. It seemed everyone had forgotten that she was there as all eyes landed on her. She gave them a nervous smile. "Should I have stopped her?"

At School, Stiles discovered that the key had fit the chemical storage room where Barrow hid and performed surgery on himself. With her mind racing, Stiles quickly made her way to the blackboard where the numbers and their chemical counterparts still spelled K I Ra. It was all coming together. She grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote the same numbers on the board. Her handwriting matched to the original. She took a step back from the board in shock and fear. Stiles was confused and scared she didn’t even realize that she was somehow materializing out of the room.

* * *

Stiles stood in the middle of a very messy loft with a lone seemingly angry werewolf. "There you are." Derek growled at her. Before Derek even has a chance to get near her he gets hit by a blue barrier. It shocked Derek. "What the hell?" He yelled at her. But he noticed that Stiles wasn't exactly paying attention. It was like she was in trance. "Stiles?" This time his voice was low and calm, he stepped closer and this time he wasn't blocked a barrier. Stiles still seemed to remain in a trance and there was that smell in the air from earlier.

"Stiles?" He whispered as he got close enough and placed his hand on her cheek. Stiles released a gasping breath.

"Derek?" Stiles asked confused looking around, "What am I doing here?"

"Hey," He told her softly, "Calm down. You're safe with me." Her heartbeat had been pounding faster than normal. "It's getting worse isn't it?" He asked her.

"No, it just that-" Stiles paused for a minute. "My spark has been acting weird. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't."

"Stiles-"

She cuts him off, "I just think it's from the lack of sleep I had suffered from earlier."

"Stiles you  _teleported_  yourself here." He pointed out to her, "Something's wrong. You smell-"

"I get it Derek," Stiles suddenly snapped at him, "I stink. Well, sorry for not being able to smell pleasant enough for you."

"That's not what I meant." He sighed. "I'm just worried about you." He confessed, "And I want you to stay here." Derek could see the look of protest in her eyes, "Just for tonight. Will you do that for me?" He nuzzled against her. She still had the remaining smell on her and all Derek wanted to do was get it off.

"I have nothing to wear."

"You can wear something of mine."

"Is this a bond thing?"

"No," He told her as he searched around the loft, "It's  _my_ thing."

And that's how fifteen minutes later, Stiles found herself wearing Derek's henley in bed with him towering right over her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you." She told him as Derek leaned into her neck.

"Well, I did start it." Derek pointed out to her.

"True."

"Then again, there was a raging party in my loft."

"Yeahhh..."

"Don't try, I know you enjoyed yourself." Derek told her with a nip.

Stiles jerked instantly, "Hey, no funny business."

"I think I'm supposed to say that to you." Stiles had her hand creeping up on the inside of Derek's shirt.

"I'm always funny," She told him as he pulled away from her neck, "By the way, welcome home."

"Home is where you are."

"For a fearsome creature of the night," Stiles told him with a smile, "You are such a sappy romantic."

"Shut up."

"Is that anyway to talk to your mate?"

"Only when she starts becoming a pain in the ass."

"Way to make a girl feel special, Derek." That's when Derek retorted with a lick, right on her face. "Dude, that's not what I meant and you know it!" Derek laughed at Stiles protest and took hold of her wrists so she couldn't wipe away the trail, "You're lucky I love you."

"Cause you're so threatening." Derek said with amusement.

"How about you come closer," Stiles suggested, "And see how _threatening_ I really am." Stiles wore that mischievous smile of hers.

"You have school in a few hours."

"Then we better make it quick, huh?" Stiles told him with a smirk and Derek agreed completely with a growl as he placed a hot kiss on Stiles' lips and began tugging at the henley.

Neither one of them shared what happened to them earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like some people are going to wonder if they have sex. Well, they do. So there's that and it'll be explained in a later chapter. Also next update on Hellmouth is the 29th!


	9. Silverfinger pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here guys the update to Hellmouth! And due to some issues I've had I can now do two chapters a day. So parts 1&2 will be updated on the same day! Friday and Saturday are still updating days, though! Part 2 will be up soon, seeing as to how I have a road trip to go on, but no worries Riddled will be posted tmrw!

Allison, Isaac, Scott were at the Argent apartment, when Chris told them of the story of how he had came across the demon warriors at a young age.

"His eyes were glowing. Chris remembered.  _Young Chris Argent is hiding under a dead body as a demon warrior takes another henchmen down with a sword._ "There was something almost ritualistic about it."  _The demon warrior is looking right at the boss._  "Like it was looking right into his soul." He shared as Allison tended to his head wound.

"That's the same thing it did to me." Isaac told them as he touched the brand on his neck. "That's what it did to everyone."

"Not everyone." Scott told them. "They only came after the werewolves."

"And Landon." Allison reminded them.

"Anyone with a  _connection_  to the supernatural." Chris shared with them.

"Then who was the guy they went after in Japan?" Scott asked the hunter.

"A kumicho. A yakuza boss." Chris explained to him. "It was my first gun deal. I was only 18 and it was supposed to be a simple exchange."  _Gerard had sent Young Chris Argent do an arms deal_. "Except Gerard left out the minor detail of the buyers being yakuza."  _Chris finds himself confronted with a group of men._  "He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment. Testing my ability to improvise."

"Or your ability to  _survive_." Allison cuts in. She still hadn't forgotten how much Gerard had used her over the Kanima situation.

"The moment the sun went down it was like they just materialized out of the shadows. They had swords, not curved like katanas but straight, black steel. Like ninjatos."

"What did they want?"

"To get to the kumicho. They cut down every living thing in their way _." In the middle of the deal, a group of Demon Warriors attacked the Yakuza leader. The men try to protect him, but their bullets are proven useless as they are cut down._

"Did they mark him like they did us?"

"Not exactly."

_The boss was left standing unarmed and alone. But there was something not human about him. His eyes glowed white and he has sharp metal teeth. The Demon Warriors impaled him over a water fountain that had been centered in the garden._

"What was he?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. But there might be someone who does." Chris shared with them. "There were a few others who survived that night. One of them was a man named Katashi. They called him Silverfinger because of an unusual prosthetic. And it looked like he was getting ready to take them all on himself."  _Katashi had his gun and appears to be ready to take on the Demon Warriors himself._ "I've known for a while Katashi was in the country." He confessed, "I spent yesterday tracking him down."

"Didn't look like he wanted to be found." Allison commented at the wounds her father received.

"Not particularly, no."

"You think he knows what they are?" Scott asked quickly, "Or what they want?"

"Maybe."

"What if he doesn't want to talk?" Allison asked realizing what Scott was getting at, "What if he doesn't even remember you?"

"He'll remember this." Chris pulled out the box that held the shattered mask and pushed it towards Scott. "I know I didn't kill it. I'm not sure you can." He told them, "But I slowed it down long enough for us to get out of there."  _Chris takes a shot at one of the Demon Warriors directly in the face shattering it's mask._

"What was behind the mask?"

"Darkness." Chris told them, remembering very clearly, "Absolute darkness."

* * *

At home, Kira was remembering the conversation she had with Scott earlier.

**FLASHBACK**

Scott has manage to Kira home on his dirt bike. Kira gets off in a nervous manner, "You okay?" Scott asks. He knows it has been quite a night for her.

"So all of your friends are werewolves." Kira comments. "Including you."

"Well, Allison is a hunter and Landon's a Reaper, but yeah." Scott says, "You're handling this pretty well."

"I'm chalking this up as another weird experience in my life." Kira says with a nervous laugh, "What about Stiles? Like what is she?" She asks. "That older werewolf seemed very  _tense_  about her."

"That would be Derek. She's his mate." Scott shares, "Another werewolf thing. And for now we calling her a spark." Kira nods along as if she gets, but Scott can tell she really didn't, "Yeah, we don't understand it either."

"Can I see?" She asks suddenly. "Your wolf-form."

"Are you sure?"

Kira gives him a nod as Scott obliges and she touches the enhanced ridges of his forehead, and cheek, "Awesome."

**END FLASHBACK**

Kira had a feeling her life was about to change.

* * *

Later, Scott was riding his dirt bike to school, the twins Ethan and Aiden rode up and flank him. Scott raced ahead, but the twins caught to him easily. When Scott finally pulled up to the school at the same time as the twins he started to question them, "You guys going to be doing this all day?"

"All day." Aiden informed him.

"All night." Ethan said easily.

"Is this about being in my pack?"

"This is about you being the target of demonic ninjas." Aiden explained to him.

"You mean the demonic ninjas that pulled swords out of their chests and completely kicked our asses?" Ethan asked his brother in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah. Those demonic ninjas." Aiden said with feigned excitement. Scott could tell that the brothers were mocking him easily.

"I don't need anyone to protect me." He told the two.

"They were looking right at you when the sun came up." Aiden reminded him.

"And they also disappeared." He pointed out to them, "Argent thinks that they could just come out at night."

"Since this is our  _first_  experience with demonic ninjas, we're thinking we should play it safe." He indicated at his brother before making eye contact with Scott, "All day."

"And all night."

The twins kept to their word and still followed Scott to his locker, "Okay, one thing first." He told them, "I need to talk to Stiles and let her know everything that happened last night." The twins nodded in agreement until, "Without you."

"No." Ethan and Aiden said together.

"Yes." Scott told them as he was putting his stuff up in his locker. "And I don't want you listening in." He told them, "No wolf hearing."

"How would you even know?" Ethan questioned.

"I'm a  _true_  Alpha." Scott reminded them, "You have no idea what I can do." He made up to them.

* * *

Spending the night with Derek was nice and all, but that didn't stop Stiles from having her freak out session with Scott the moment she led him into the chemistry room.

"So then she starts talking about phosphors and the key having chemicals on it, right? And so that made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had to let Barrow in." She walked over to the board and saw that it was completely blank, "It's gone." She whispered, "Okay, it doesn't matter though." She said quickly.

Scott was looking at his friend worriedly, "It doesn't matter. I've still got the key." But when she looked at her key ring the same key was gone as well, "What the hell? I had it...I had it here." She told Scott, "I had it here this morning, I swear to God, I had it this morning." She would know she checked before Derek dropped her off.

"The key you were talking about last night?"

"Yeah, I  _showed_  it to you, right?" She asked, "Didn't I show it to you?"

"No, you just told me about it." Scott said hesitantly, "I never actually saw it. I could ask Kira."

"I rather you didn't." Stiles told him, "I was here a couple of hours ago." She confessed, "And the message left to Barrow spelling Kira's name was right there on the board in my handwriting and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

"So you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide in it from the cops and then you wrote him a message to kill Kira?" Scott asked, trying to piece it together.

"I know how it sounds, but look at this." She pulled out a newspaper from her backpack, "This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used." She pointed at a spot she had highlighted, "See this? See what he did? He put nuts, bolts and screws. And then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present. What does that sound like to you?"

"Coach."

"The joke we played on Coach." She repeated, "That was my idea. You remember? That was my idea. That's no coincidence. It can't be."

"I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong." Scott assured her, "But I don't think you're trying to kill people either."

"It was here." Stiles panicked, "It was all here."

"Dude, are you feeling okay?" Scott asked, noticing how bad she looked. He wasn't going to comment that she smelled of something completely off, "You're looking really tired."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stiles told him nibbling on her thumb nail, "I just haven't been sleeping really."

"Why don't you go home?" Scott suggested, "Take a sick day or something."

Stiles simply nodded her head and walked out the classroom. Scott was rejoined with the twins in the hallway, "Did you tell her?" Ethan asked.

"No." Scott shared with them, "She's got enough on her mind right now."

"If they're coming for you in a few hours then so do you." Aiden reminded him.

"What if it's not me?" He speculated, "Okay? What if I'm not the one they want?"

"Who else is there?" Scott noticed Kira walking down the stairs in the opposite direction.

* * *

The Argents and Isaac were sitting in the Chris' office space, "The real problem is Katashi doesn't see visitors. Ever." Chris explained to them, "He's a paranoid recluse who rarely steps outside the gates of his estate."

"So how are you going to get to him?" Allison questioned.

"Oh, he's got a thing for rare, antique weapons." Chris went to one of his cabinets that was settled against the wall, "Yesterday, I had some contacts put out the word that I was selling one from my own collection." He pulled out a display case that held a weapon, "This is a French Flintlock Turnover Pistol from 1645."

"You're not going alone." Allison told him, already seeing what her dad was planning.

"Agreed." Isaac told them.

"To be honest, I don't feel good about bringing either one of you." Chris told the teens, but Allison and Isaac looked determined.

"They were looking right at Scott when the sun came up." Allison told him.

"Well, that doesn't necessarily mean he's the one they're going after." Chris shared with them.

"But if he is?" Isaac questioned.

"If he is, that might only leave us till nightfall to come up with a way to protect him."

"All right." Isaac said ready to go, "Let's go see if a paranoid yakuza wants to put another gun in his collection."

* * *

Agent McCall was talking on his phone, "Yeah, I'm walking in now. And trying to avoid the hostile stares of everyone in here." He had gotten a dozen so far and even some from the citizens of Beacon Hills, "No, no. Probably another week or two and we'll be ready for a formal review."

He finally made it to his office and shut his door for some privacy, "There's enough here to put Stilinski so far out of government work, he won't be able to get a job riding the back of a garbage truck. Yeah, exactly." He opened his laptop and sees that his security on the device had been triggered. When he opened to see what had caused the trigger, "Let me call you right back."

* * *

Stiles was at the hospital with Melissa, "Dr. Gardner's not back until next week." Melissa informed Stiles, but Stiles was getting antsy, "Do you want to try waiting for one of the urgent care doctors or Stiles," Melissa called out to her trying to get her attention, "Are you all right?"

"I don't know." Stiles panicked slightly, "I guess I guess not really."

"All right, kiddo." Melissa said softly and could see the distress on Stiles' face. She took Stiles gently by the arm, "All right. Come with me. It's okay."

Stiles and Melissa were now in a hospital room, "Blackouts." Stiles shared as Melissa started to make a file, "But not for that long. And sleepwalking, which I used to do a lot as a kid." She reminded her.

Melissa remembered very clearly, "Um also having some really bad anxiety." Stiles shared with her.

"Panic attacks?" Melissa asked her

"Yeah, a couple." She admitted, "Oh, and I temporarily lost the ability to read." She told her, "But that might have had more to do with this giant magic tree and a whole human sacrifice thing. There other supernatural issues with me as well, but like I said probably the tree's fault."

"I recall something vaguely about that, yes." Melissa said, with a small smile. "How many hours of sleep are you getting?"

"Eight."

"A night?"

Stiles did a quick count on her fingers, "In the last three days." Stiles said, earning a puzzled look. "Yeah, definitely eight."

"Been feeling irritable?"

"Possibly to the point of  _homicide_."

"Inability to focus?"

"No, the Adderall's not working." Stiles shared with her.

"Impulsive behavior?"

"More than my usual?" Stiles said in an unsure manner, "Hard to tell."

"Vivid dreams during the day?"

"Okay, basically all of the above." Stiles said keeping her irritation to a minimum, "Do you know what this is?"

"I think so." Melissa said and turned to the metal tray that was laying on the bed tray and held up a syringe.

"Uh, what's that?" Stiles questioned, looking at the needle.

"Do you trust me?" Melissa asked instead of answering the question.

"When you're not holding a needle."

"It's Midazolam." Melissa explained while pulling up Stiles' sleeve and sticking her with the need, "A  _sedative_."

"Why'd you give me a sedative?"

"Because you, Stiles, are one profoundly sleep-deprived young lady." Melissa concluded, "You need rest and you need it now. Lie down." Melissa gently guided Stiles to lay on the bed.

"Okay, how long's it take to-Oh." Stiles said heavily as Melissa stuck her with the needle.

"Not long at all." Melissa told her. She pulled the sheet over Stiles as she started to drift, "Get some rest." Melissa said gently brushing Stiles' hair.

In that moment, Stiles looked at her with such a helpless expression and took a hold of her hand. "Thanks, Mom." Stiles said softly, gripping onto the sheet falling asleep. Melissa could practically feel her heart break.

* * *

Chris threw down his phone in irritation in the Argent vehicle, "What is it?" Allison asked from the passenger seat.

"Katashi won't do the buy in person." Chris told them.

"But he's a paranoid recluse." Isaac said from the backseat, "Shouldn't you be a little  _less_  surprised?"

"I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go to my Plan B." Chris shared with them.

"Plan B?" The young werewolf questioned, "And what's Plan B?"

"How tall are you?" Chris asked Isaac looking through the rearview mirror. Isaac doesn't answer because the truck of the car began to open and Isaac gave Chris a confused look.

Within a manner of minutes Isaac was dressed up in one of Chris' old business suits and looked quite uncomfortable, "Guys. This isn't going to work." Isaac said not fully confident, "I look ridiculous. I mean I look like I just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school."

In a sense he was kind of right. His hair looked a complete mess and his shirt wasn't tucked in all the way, "And there is no way that I'm going be able to remember all this." He held up a piece of paper, "I mean, what does this even mean? "Revolving over and under barrels?""

"All you have to do is keep them talking long enough to allow us to get inside and find Katashi." Chris reminded him, "He may not be there for the buy in person but he won't be far."

"You look great." Allison assured him, trying to keep from laughing at the nervous wolf.

"I am sweating, all the way through my jacket." He confessed to them, "I didn't even know that I could sweat this much."

"You can do this." Allison told him placing her hand on his shoulders, "You're not a boy if you walk in there acting like a man." She coached him and started to fix him up, "Okay? Go in there with  _confidence_  and all they'll see is a _boyish_ looking man."

"Or a stupid teenager pretending to be a man." Isaac pointed out, "I'm starting to see why Stiles calls me her baby beta. I'm going to get my head blown off by a bunch of Japanese fingerless mobsters."

"Isaac you've come too far to get killed by mobsters," Allison told him, "Whatever these things are they're coming after Scott, coming after  _your_  Alpha. I may not be a werewolf, but I know that when a pack member is threaten the  _entire_  pack will do whatever is necessary to protect them. You got this."

When the doors of the warehouse opened Isaac walked through the doors with determination and some sunglasses, "Gentlemen." Isaac said once the doors had closed and he pulled off his sunglasses, "I believe Mr. Katashi is expecting me."

One of the henchmen, who had been watching from the railing, spoke up, "I'm expecting you."

* * *

Scott had managed to get away from the twins with the help of Kira by sabotaging their bikes. When they reached the McCall residence they quickly rushed inside, "We're running out of time." Kira told him.

"I know." Scott said as he started to lock all the windows, "But Allison, her dad and Isaac are working on something that could help."

"I don't want to sound pessimistic or anything," Kira said as she watched him lock every window in sight, "but you really think that's going to keep them out?"

"Actually, we have a kind of security system." He said to her as he still moved around, "Things happened a couple of weeks ago, a lot of things, and we had my boss help make a few changes to the house."

"Your boss?" Kira asked confused, "Do you work for a security company or something?"

"No, he's a veterinarian."

"You had a  _vet_  put in your alarm?" She said with disbelief, "I'll take the werewolves sure, but this takes the cake."

"Yeah, sort of. But I can't arm it." Scott admitted, "Only my mom can."

"Where's she?"

"Don't worry. She'll be here."

"You didn't bring the twins here because you didn't want them to get hurt." She told him.

"I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"I have to show you something." She told as she pulled out a book from her backpack, "Have you ever heard of something called a kitsune?" She asked him.

At the hospital, Melissa checked on Stiles and see that Stiles was still asleep. In a plastic container, she pulled out Stiles' medical file and looked it over. Then she went into the records storage area and pulled out another medical file and compared the two.  _"Patient is irritable, impulsive, "complaints of vivid dreams. Inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality, "acute insomnia."_  The file read the same as Stiles. She closed the file and looked at the label on  _Deceased 2004_. Melissa looked more worried as her eyes fell to the owner of the identical medical file. It read Claudia Stilinski.

* * *

Allison and Chris had managed to break into the warehouse undetected. Allison was able to take out one of the henchmen with a single punch as Chris was able to elbow another in face. They worked systemically taking all of Silverfinger's henchmen out.

Meanwhile, Isaac was killing time by telling the story of the pistol, "What we're looking at here is a mint-condition French Flintlock Turnover Pistol crafted in the mid-17th century. It was a gift from Louis XIV to a prominent French family. It's only ever been fired once."

"During a duel between brothers on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles." The head henchmen informed him.

"So you're familiar with it." Isaac said to him.

"Oh, Mr. Katashi knows what he wants." The man told and signaled another by his side, "We'll take it." At the sentence the other man opened the briefcase, which was filled with money and slid it across the table, "$150,000."

Isaac looked from the head henchmen and back at the case, "I'm gonna need to count it." He said still stalling for time.

"Oh, really?" The henchman questioned him.

"Yeah." Isaac reached into the bag that held the pistol and pulled out an automatic counting machine. He grabbed the first bulk of the money and placed it into the machine.

* * *

In Scott's room, Scott and Kira were looking through the book, "That looks like what happened to you at the power station." Scott said pointing at one the pictures.

"When a kitsune rubs its tails together it can create fire or lighting." Kira informed him, "It's called foxfire." She noticed the pondering look on Scott's face, "I don't have any tails."

"I wasn't thinking about at all." Scott denied quickly.

"Kitsune are also psychic." Kira said in a knowing tone, "I can hear all of your thoughts." But with the panicked look on Scott's face she added, "Just kidding."

"The sun's setting." Scott realized when his room suddenly darkened.

Kira said, "I'm supposed to be back before dinner."

"Tell them you can't make it."

"What should I say?"

"Tell them you have a study group."

"Are you sure that's would work?" She questioned, "I don't think you noticed, but my mom was glaring at you the entire at the dinner. Wolves and foxes don't tend to get along."

"I have yet to have to urge to kill you, so I think we're safe." Just outside the McCall house they heard a door close, "My mom's back."

However, when Scott and Kira made it downstairs, it wasn't Melissa who had entered into the house, "What are you doing here?" Scott asked in disdain when he sees that it was Agent McCall. He noticed that his father held up a key, "And why do you  _still_  have a key?"

"Funny you mention keys." Agent McCall told him ignoring Scott's accusations, "Because while I have a key to this house, I'm not exactly sure how you got a key to my office." He pulled his laptop of it's case and showed the teens the webcam photo.

* * *

Isaac was still using the automatic machine when the head henchmen took a hold of his hand and removing it from the machine, "You don't know the whole story behind this gun, do you?" He questioned Isaac in a tone, "There was no duel between brothers. That was the cover story."

"The real one involves an encounter in the woods with a vicious animal. Its bite caused one of the men to change into something Monstrous. By his family's code, the brother of this man killed him with this very gun." He told him.

"Well, that is certainly better than the version that I heard." Isaac told him, sensing the danger. "I'm gonna trust you guys with the money here and, uh-" Isaac tried to back his way out, but found his exit blocked by two other mobsters.

The head henchmen took a hold of Isaac's arm, "Personally, I'd like to hear your story." He then jerked Isaac's arm back and the younger man goes all fangs and glowing eyes at him.

Silverfinger was watching surveillance feeds from several parts of the warehouse complex. He watched the confrontation with Isaac then swiped the screen in to see Allison and then Chris taking out his guards.

Just as Chris walked into the room Silverfinger pulled out his own gun other the hunter, "All I want to do is talk." Chris told the man, holding up his gun as well.

"Taking out my security is not what I would call a good conversation starter." Silverfinger told him.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Chris realized at the man's face remained unpleasant, "Allison, take the man's gun."

Coming from another entrance of the room, Allison appeared with her whip chain. She tossed the whip easily as it wrapped around Silverfinger's gun and gave it a yank as the man was easily disarmed.

"Now, can we talk?" Chris asked the man.

"Guys?" Isaac voiced entered the room. Chris and Allison turned to see that Isaac had a pair of claws around his neck from the head henchman, "They have a werewolf too."


	10. Silverfinger pt.2

Agent McCall was still demanding an answer out of the pair, but they both stood quietly, "Let me help you out here." He said heatedly, "This kind of thing usually begins with something along the lines of, "It's not what you think." Or, "I can explain.""

"Dad, let me help you out." Scott told him, "You need to _leave_." It was bad enough that his Dad was already in town as it is, but the sun was close to being set all the way and those demon warriors could be here at any second.

"I will." Agent McCall told him, "With a satisfactory explanation."

"Go get a warrant."

"I don't need a warrant." Agent McCall told him, "I'm your father."

"No, you're a gene donor. I got my hair color from you. And that's all I got." Scott told him, "So you're not allowed to play tough dad with me."

In that exact moment Melissa walked into the house and sensed the tension in the room quickly, "Hey, what's going on?" She asked.

"Maybe one of you should explain." Agent McCall told her. At the exact moment he noticed a shadowy figure enter the living room, "Scott, who the hell is this?" He asked he made his way into the living room.

Scott, Kira, and Melissa exchanged worried glances, "Dad, no! Dad, wait Dad." But it was too late. The demon warrior that had come out of the darkness took a stab at the Agent right into his arm. Melissa pulled him to a secluded corner as Derek burst in and started to fight with the demon warrior. The twins bust through a window together. Together the werewolves managed to eject two other warriors from the house.

"Mom, the ash! Mom, now! Do it now!" Scott shouted at her. Melissa quickly dropped a jar of Mountain Ash across the threshold. It formed a perfect line which completed the security barrier Deaton established at the house. The Demons couldn't get past.

* * *

Back at the warehouse, Chris Argent showed Silverfinger the shattered mask he had kept, "Starting to remember? It was 24 years ago." Silverfinger's face fell into recognition, "You know what they are, don't you?"

"They're called Oni." The man told him as he covered the mask back up, "They are demons. And they are unstoppable."

Derek had been touching the floorboard of the house, "All of the baseboards are ash wood?" He asked an impressed manner.

"Uh, yeah. It was Deaton's idea." Scott told him, until it sunk in, "And where the hell did you come from?"

"I've been following you." Derek confessed to him.

"For how long?" Scott questioned. He hadn't sensed Derek's presence at all throughout the day.

"All day." He said as if it were no big deal.

"Dude, does Stiles know about this?"

"She doesn't know anything about this." Derek told him, indicating at the last remaining Oni in the house. "And I want to keep it that way."

"Scott, this isn't good!" Melissa called out to him. Scott quickly rushed to his mother's side as she applied pressure to the wound. There was a lot of blood coming out of the shoulder wound even as Agent McCall was still laying down.

"How bad is it?"

"From the way that his arm is rotated, the tendon looks torn." She informed him, "He could be on his way to a collapsed lung."

"Mom, those things, they're not going to leave until the sun's up."

"At the rate he's bleeding, he's not gonna make it that long." She told him, "We got to get him to the hospital. Should we call Stiles' Dad?"

"I don't know." Scott told her. Scott looked at the gun that was still strapped to his father's holster.

"Is that going to just get more people hurt?" Melissa asked when she saw him looking at it.

"Maybe." Scott told her, "I don't think guns work on them." He said recalling Chris' story.

"Then what does?"

* * *

Back at the warehouse, "Nothing." Silverfinger told the Argents, "At least no man-made weapon. The Oni are a force of  _nature._  You don't fight a tsunami. You _endure_ it. And you hope that you're not destroyed in its path."

"Then how do we endure it?" Allison questioned him.

"One of you already has." He pointed over at Isaac who touched the brand mark on the back of his neck. Silverfinger held up a picture of a backwards five, "This is Japanese kanji for "self". This means he is still himself." He explained, "The Oni are looking for one who is no longer themselves."

"What do you mean no longer themselves?"

"Possessed." He explained, "By a dark spirit."

* * *

In the McCall living room, Kira found herself under investigation, "It's Kira, right?" Aiden asked in a menacing tone, "You going to tell us what you are?"

"What?" Kira asked already frighten by him, "What do you mean?"

"Aiden." Ethan said in a warning tone.

"Watch!" He told his brother, he quickly took a hold of Kira's hand and forced her to touch the barrier separating them and the waiting Oni in the kitchen. There were more outside the house as well.

Kira's hand repelled against the barrier, "See that?" He claimed to his brother, "She can't go through it either. So, what are you?" He asked with a growl.

"She's a kitsune, idiot." Derek said appearing from the hall. "Use your eyes. You can see it all around her." Kira looked confused as the werewolves as gathered around her, "The younger ones give off an _aura_. She just hasn't learned how to conceal it yet."

Derek caught the look of confusion on her face, "She probably doesn't know what kind she is either."

* * *

At the warehouse, "There are 13 kinds of kitsune. Celestial, wild, ocean, thunder." Silverfinger explained, "But there is one, a dark kitsune. They call it void. Or Nogitsune. A kumicho." That was when it suddenly made sense all those years ago to Chris, "He was possessed by a Nogitsune. It's what helped him rise through the ranks of our yakuza family. Nogitsune draws its power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos."

In a corner Kira and Scott were having an argument, "It's not you. It can't be. What I saw around you, it didn't look evil."

"But isn't that what a shape-shifter does?" She questioned him, "Isn't that why a kitsune is called the trickster spirit? It's supposed to  _trick_  you." She looked at him as if he had lost his mind, "How are you so sure? How do you know I'm not the bad guy?"

"I've seen the bad guys." Scott told her, "You're not one of them. If you were Stiles would've known from the get go."

"How would she even know that?"

"She has a  _talent_."

Back in the living room with the menacing Oni still blocked by the barrier, Derek was giving Aiden a glare. "I wasn't going to hurt her." Aiden told him.

"Not yet." Derek inquired.

"Why do you think we're here, Derek?" Ethan asked him, "For a study group? We're here to protect Scott. We're trying to fight for him."

"I'm sure you are. I'm sure you'd kill for him." Derek said in an unimpressed manner, "But are you willing to die for him?" They looked over at the unmoving Oni.

* * *

At the warehouse, "Do you know why I'm missing this finger?" Silverfinger asked, holding up his little finger, "Penance. There's a ritual called yubitsume." He explained to the blank faces, "Removing the joints of the little finger weakens your grip on a sword. When a katana is gripped properly, the little finger is the strongest."

"Why did they take your finger?" Chris asked him.

"They didn't take it. A yakuza performs the ritual himself and offers it to his superior." Silverfinger explained to them, "It was penance for a mistake. And it wasn't my only one I don't know what it was about the way I moved or stood that suggested to them that I was going to take them on. Because actually I was preparing to run for my life."

He turned his attention towards Chris, "That shot you fired saved me from looking like a coward before the survivors. For that humiliation, I wouldn't have to have given up my finger. I would've had to give up my head." He told them.

"I wish I could give you the answer you need, Mr. Argent. I owe you more than my life. I owe you my honor. I will tell you one thing, however. If there is a Nogitsune among you let the Oni destroy it." He advised him. He looked at Allison, "Even if it is your own daughter."

The Oni have begun to pounding against the barrier. It shook the entire house. "What are they doing?" Kira questioned them.

"Testing for weaknesses." Derek realized as the ones outside the window followed suit.

"Guys?" Aiden noticed that the one in the living room had produced a small hole in the barrier, "We have a problem."

* * *

In Scott's room, "I need to speak to Scott." Agent McCall told Melissa.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Don't patronize me Melissa." He said to her, "You know why...You know why I really came back, don't you?"

"And as usual your timing sucks." She shot back at him, "You're not talking to him. Not like this. So, you stay awake and we're gonna get you out of here as fast as we can."

* * *

Back in the living room, Scott was on the phone, "Allison, please tell me that you have something." He begged her, "They're here. They're trying to get in. And it looks like they're gonna' be able to do it." The hole in the barrier was getting bigger.

"Okay, okay listen. They're Japanese demons. They're called the Oni. They're looking for someone possessed. Someone with a dark spirit attached to them." She told him.

"A Nogitsune." He remembered from reading the book.

"How'd you know that?" She asked him, but received nothing, "Scott?"

"Just tell me what else." Scott rushed at her.

"Okay, they won't hurt you. They know you're supernatural but once they do this check, once they realize that you're not carrying with you this dark spirit, then they won't hurt you, I promise." She told him. Scott looked over at Kira, "All they're looking for is the Nogitsune."

Scott hung up the phone and Kira could see the look on his face.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Kira asked him, "They're looking for me."

"They're looking for a  _dark_  spirit."

"Scott, we're going to have to do something." Derek told him already with his claws out.

"Don't do anything." Scott told them.

"Is he serious?" Aiden asked the other werewolves.

"I said don't do anything." He told the wolves, "Trust me."

"I hope whatever insane idea you have works," Derek told him stepping aside, "Because if you get hurt Stiles is going to be pissed as it is."

The demons burst through the barrier, while everyone else did stood still. The Oni reached for Scott and Kira, stared at them with their glowing eyes and branded each before letting them drop to the floor as they disappeared.

* * *

At the hospital Stiles woke-up in a dark room. She got out of the bed confused. As she opened the door to the room, she looked up and down the halls and noticed that they were abandoned. She made her way down the hall.

She made her way to one of the surgery suites. There, she was confronted by the Oni. She looked at the Oni with a stare and lets one get close but as it reached up to touch her neck, Stiles grabbed it's hand. Almost as if a reflex, she forced her hand into its chest and pulled out a firefly. The Oni turned to smoke and disappeared.

Agent McCall was being wheeled into the emergency room with Scott, Melissa, and Derek, "Hey, stab wound to the left chest." Melissa said as she ran alongside the paramedics, "Possible collapsed lung. Pulse is weak."

"I'll find Stiles." Derek told Scott as he noticed the Alpha conflicted with following his dad or choosing over his friend. Scott gave him a nod as he followed the others.

Derek was making his way down the halls, when he heard fighting sounds coming from one of the surgery suites. When he walked through the door he noticed Stiles standing in the middle of the room back away from him. The room didn't smell right and Stiles smelled completely off as she did last night.

"Stiles?" He asked hesitantly, "You okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, fine." She told him, turning toward him. The smell vanished as she gave him a smile and Derek was hit with a feeling on contentment, "What's been going on?"

Derek wrapped his arm around her shoulder and guided her out the room, but on the floor a firefly buzzed. Its light suddenly went out as it first crumbled to dust then gets blown away in a puff of black smoke.

* * *

Derek followed her home and all the way into the house, "That's insane. Is he going to be okay?" She asked once, they made it to her room. Stiles laid down on her bed with Derek's arm wrapped around her.

"Yeah," Derek assured her, "Why you were at the hospital anyway?"

"I felt sick and I went to see Melissa," She told him, "Only because I knew she wouldn't call my dad."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, apparently I just needed a good night's sleep." Stiles said softly and gave him a small smile.

"Is this about what happened that night?"

"It's been on and off honestly." She told him, "Adding the spark and everything I'm just having a hard time adjusting to it."

"You could've told me."

"And have you worry?" She questioned looking at him, "I don't think so."

"Remembered what you promised me?" Derek said looking back at her.

"Yeah, I do." Stiles whispered as he rubbed a hand down her cheek, "Do you remember yours?" Derek stilled for moment and gave her a nod.

"You know I'm going to want some answers from you."

"I know," Stiles said softly, "And as much as I love this, I need to sleep and the last thing I want is my dad to come and see you in my bed." Stiles told him, "You should probably go or else he'll shoot you for real."

Derek gave a smirk and got up from the bed. He placed a kiss on top of her head before heading out his window exit. "If something happens-"

"You'll be the first I'll call." She told him. Derek didn't sense anything wrong or off about her. She seemed normal and the Oni were only going after shape shifters, aside from Landon, as far as he could tell. He made his way out the window, but that didn't stop the uneasy feeling he had from earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riddled parts 1 & 2 tmrw!


	11. Riddled pt.1

Scott was asleep when he woke-up to the sound of his phone vibrating on his nightstand. He quickly answered it when he sees that it's Stiles. "Hey, what's up? Stiles?" He questioned shaking the sleep out of his voice. On the other end, he could hear Stiles breathing nervously along with a mix of static, "Stiles?" He tried again, "You there?"

"Scott?" She answered through the phone, "Hey, I'm here."

"Are you okay?" Scott asked hearing a slight panic in her voice, "Can you hear me?"

"Scott, I don't...I don't know where I am." Stiles told him, "I don't know how I got here. I think was sleepwalking."

"Okay, um, can you see anything?" He asked, "Just tell me what you see."

"Ah, it's dark. It's hard to see." Stiles told him, "I think there's something wrong with my-"

The connection shorten and Scott repeatedly tried to callback. The problem was he kept getting her voicemail. "God, come on." Scott tried again and this time there was a ring tone, "Come on." He muttered, he heard someone picking up on the other end, "Stiles?"

"Scott, I don't think I can get out of here." She told him in a frightened tone, "I can't move."

"Where are you?" He asked.

"I don't know. I don't know, It's too dark." She told him, "I can't see much and something's wrong with my leg. It's stuck on something." There was a brief pause, "And it's…I think it's bleeding."

"How bad?" Scott questioned her, but he doesn't get an answer at first, "Stiles, how bad is it?" Still nothing. Scott quickly started to worry, "Stiles, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Ah, there's some kind of smell down here." Her voice filled the line, Scott released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, "Something smells like burnt wood. Only it's  _brutal_. My eyes are watering."

"Okay, listen. I'm calling your dad and Derek."

"No, no, no, no, don't." Stiles begged him, "I tried linking Derek, but the link is broken…I can't find the ring he gave me. Please Scott don't call either of them. Especially not my Dad."

"But Stiles-"

"Don't. Just please don't call him." She pressed him,  _"Promise_  you won't. He already has enough to worry about. He already worries about me too much. And Derek has done enough for me already. Scott, please." She begged.

"But what if I can't find you?" Scott asked worriedly, "Stiles, I can't make a promise like that."

"No, no, no, just please." She repeated and making a sniffling sound, "Please, don't call them. Come find me." She told him in a shaky breath, "You can do it. He doesn't have to know. _They_ don't have to know. Scott, you can find me."

"I don't know if I can do this." Scott admitted.

Stiles made another sniffling noise, "Oh, I gotta call you back." She told him suddenly, "I have to turn the phone off."

"What? No, hey, wait!" Scott exclaimed.

"I'm gonna call you back." She told him.

"Hold on, Stiles," He tried again, but she already hung up on him. Scott quickly started slamming his drawers finding some clothes. "Isaac! Isaac, get up!" Scott yelled frantically, "I need your help! Isaac!"

"Why?" Isaac asked rushing through Scott's door still in sleep-mode, "What's wrong?"

"It's Stiles." He told him, "Get dressed."

"What's wrong with Stiles?" He asked.

"I don't know." Scott admitted.

* * *

Landon was sketching Aiden in the Beacon Hills High School Arts Classroom after hours. There was music playing in the background. At first, it bothered Landon, but not as much as his model, who kept moving around, "I said hold still." Landon reminded him.

"Are we even allowed to be here this late?" Aiden questioned, "What if security catches us?"

Landon rolled his eyes at the statement, "There is no security." He told him, "The number of homicides in this school has seen to it that no  _sane_  person will ever take a night job here again."

"So we're all alone?" Aiden said with a smirk on his face, not to mention breaking his pose.

"You're losing the pose again." Landon told him, not falling for Aiden's antics.

"You know, when you said you wanted me to model for you, this wasn't what I thought you had in mind."

"Oh, really?" Landon quirked, Aiden took off his shirt with a smile of satisfaction on his face. "If you're thinking nude modeling, it's usually done  _without_  the pants." Aiden promptly removed his pants and threw them at Landon head.

Landon was shocked by the action, but not as shocked when he started to hear voices. Landon got up in a frighten manner, knocking over the stool he had been sitting on and started searching for the source. His eyes landed right on the boom box that was making a static noise.

"You hear that?" Landon questioned him.

"Hear what?" Aiden asked noticing the strange behavior.

"You don't hear that?" Landon looking right at the boom box.

"I hear music." Aiden told him, "What do you hear?"

"Voices." The static continued to get louder and louder and until there was nothing, but the music playing again.

"It's gone." Landon told him, but it took seconds until he heard Stiles' voice fill the room.

"Please, come find me." It begged through the speakers.

* * *

Scott and Isaac were heading out when Scott received another phone call from Stiles, "Hey, Stiles."

"Did you call them?" Stiles' voice was shaking through the phone, "Did you call my dad or Derek?"

"No. Just Isaac." Scott told her, "We're coming to find you. Can you figure out where you are?" Isaac leaned over Scott's shoulder to get a better listen, "Try to find something and tell us where to look."

"It's a basement." She told him, "I think...I think I'm in some kind of basement."

"In a house?" Isaac questioned her.

"No, Isaac. It looks bigger." Her voice shivering through the line, "Like  _industrial_. I think there's a furnace. But it's  _cold_." She told them, "It's freezing down here. I gotta turn the...I gotta turn the phone off. It's going to die."

"Wait, wait, wait." Scott tried stopping her, "What else is there? What do you see?"

"The phone's dying. I can't talk." She told him, "I have to go." She whispered through the phone.

"Please Stiles," Scott urged when he realized the tone in her voice dropped, "Why are you whispering?"

"Because I think there's _someone_ in here with me." She whispered at him, before line cuts off again. Both the werewolves exchanged worried glances

* * *

Kira was on her bed studying. She reached to turn on a table lamp, but the bulb was out. She called to her mother that the lamp was "dead." As she removed the shade and reached to remove the burned out bulb but as her fingers brush the glass of the incandescent bulb it relighted briefly.

She jerked her hand back, but then tried it again more slowly. Small bolts of electricity come from each of her fingers and the bulb lights fully before exploding.

Mrs. Yukimura entered and seeming angry wanting to know what Kira did to break the bulb. She told Kira that she should be asleep. As her mom screwed in a new light bulb Kira noticed that her mom's fingers also briefly glow with electricity. But none of them make a comment about it.

* * *

Scott and Isaac busted into Stiles' bedroom, only to find Landon and Aiden already there. "How did you know?" Scott questioned, "Did she call you too?"

"I  _heard_  it." Landon told him. Isaac gave him a confused face.

"Don't ask." Aiden suggested to him, "It gets more _confusing_ when you ask."

Landon could still hear the whispering, but it wasn't as strong, "Not as confusing as this." Landon and the werewolves turn to face the room.

Stiles "murder wall" had changed. Pictures and articles covered almost all the walls and the red threads stretch away from the walls and were all tied to the handles of a pair of scissors which was stabbed into the center of Stiles' mattress. The overall impression was of a spider's web radiating out from the center of Stiles' bed.

"She uses red for unsolved cases." Landon explained to them.

"Maybe she thinks she's  _part_  of an unsolved case?" Aiden suggested.

"Or  _is_  an unsolved case." Isaac pointed out.

"Hold on. Is she _still_ out there?" Landon questioned Scott and Isaac while looking over their shoulder, "You don't know _where_ she is?"

"She said she was in an industrial basement somewhere." Isaac told them. "We came here to get a better scent."

"What else did she say?" Landon asked, starting to worry.

"Something's wrong with her leg." Scott told him, "It's bleeding."

"And she's freezing." Isaac included.

"Tonight's the  _coldest_  night of the year." Aiden informed them, "It's going to drop into the 20s."

"What did her dad and Derek say?" Landon asked trying not think of the worst, "Wait, Derek isn’t with her?"

"No, Stiles said she couldn’t find the ring he had given her so the link is broken," Scott told him and then with some hesitation, "As for her dad…we didn't… we didn't tell him...Or Derek."

"Stiles is bleeding _and_ freezing," Landon began to hiss at him, "And you didn't call her dad? Or Derek?"

"She made me promise not to." Scott caved, "We can find her by scent. If she was sleepwalking she couldn't have gotten far, right?"

"You didn't notice her Jeep is gone, did you?" Aiden questioned them.

Landon pulled out his phone,  _"You_  promised you wouldn't call her dad. I didn't." Landon told them and started dialing numbers.

"Wait, Landon, hold on." Scott begged, "I can get more help. I will call Derek, he has the right to know and Allison-"

"Everyone  _except_  for the cops. Great idea." Landon cuts in with a sarcastic tone.

"You guys remember he gets these feelings when someone's about to die,  _right?"_  Aiden reminded them.

Scott knew Aiden was right, "You don't have to call her dad." Scott told him, "It's five minutes to the station." Isaac and Scott started to head out the room and Aiden quickly followed behind, but was stopped by Landon.

"We'll catch up." Landon told them, indicating at Aiden.

"What? Why?" Scott questioned.

"There's  _something_  here." Landon told them, looking around the room.

"Yeah." Isaac agreed, "Evidence of total  _insanity_."

"She used your  _name_  Isaac," Scott pointed out, "She hasn't done that in months," Scott turned to Landon, "We can figure out what's wrong with her  _after_  we find a way to keep her from freezing to death."

"Go.” Landon pressed, “We'll be right behind you."

* * *

On a concrete floor, Stiles was shivering and fumbling with her phone. She turned on the flashlight app and shined it down toward her foot. She was wearing pajama bottoms and her left foot appeared to be caught in the jaws of a large trap, just like the ones Mr. Tate had. Her leg was bleeding from the calf where the metal jaws of the trap connect with her leg. She cried out in pain, but it's cut short, when she heard the noise.

"Who's there?" She cried out into the darkness, "I know you're there. I can hear you."

The scraping sound continued as she directed the light around the room. There were metal beams supporting the roof and on the opposite wall sat a large industrial boiler. Behind it, Stiles caught a glimpse of a man in a leather bomber jacket squatting with his back to Stiles. It appeared that he was drawing something.

"Who are you?" She questioned, but she didn't get a response. Instead, the man, with heavily bandaged fingers, dropped a piece of chalk which rolled along the concrete floor. Stiles followed the chalk with the light and when she raised it again, the figure was gone. On the wall is a chalk-drawn backwards number 5.

"Self." She panted with recognition. As Stiles spoke the word aloud, a breeze flowed through the room, rustling the leaves on the floor and turning the backwards five into a cloud of chalk dust that vanished as if it was never there at all.

* * *

Sheriff Stilinski tried to remain calm, but he was shaking. "Come on. If her Jeep is gone, that's where we start. Parrish, let's get an APB out on a blue 1980 CJ-5 Jeep." Deputy Parrish nods in agreement. The Sheriff turned his attention to another deputy, "Cordova, I want a list of any kind of industrial basement or sub-level of any building that she could've gotten into while sleepwalking."

He turned his attention to the entire department, "It's the  _coldest_  night of the year so far. So if she's out there barefoot in just a T-shirt, she could already be  _hypothermic_. Let's move fast. Let's think fast." He then pointed at Isaac and Scott, "The two of you, come with me."

He gathered the werewolves into his office, "Okay. Is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell anyone out there?"

"Landon knew she was missing." Scott informed him.

"Can he help find her?"

"Well, he's working on it." Isaac told him.

"Anything else?" He asked worriedly.

"I called Allison to help," Scott told him.

"Can you find her by scent?"

There was a knock on the door. It was Parrish, "We got it, sir. We found the Jeep." The deputy told them.

They found the jeep at the hospital, but the battery was dead. "Why would she come here?" Scott questioned.

"Let's find out." The Sheriff told them.

* * *

As the Sheriff and his deputies entered through the hospital Melissa McCall rushed to their aid, "Security's doing sweeps of every floor." She told him in a hurried voice, "Nothing yet."

"What about the basement?"

"Follow me."

Isaac and Scott rushed up to the roof, only to discover that Derek was already there. "She's not here." He told them in a low-tone, "Not anymore."

"You mean the  _whole_  building?" Scott questioned.

"Gone and I can't feel her either, meaning I can't track her either."

"I'll go tell Stilinski." Isaac told them.

"And see if you can find Allison." Scott included, "She's not answering her phone."

"How did you know?" Scott rushed over to Derek's side. He had actually forgotten to call Derek, "She said she didn't have her ring on her." Scott told him. His eyes fell to Derek's clenching hands.

"I got shock of _paralyzing_ fear," Derek said blandly. "Notice how strong the scent is up here?" Derek asked in a quiet tone. Scott nodded, "Ever hear of chemo signals? Chemical signals that communicate emotion. And just our sweat can give off anger, fear or disgust. Take a deep breath and tell me what you feel."

Scott did as directed, "Stress."

"And anxiety." Derek added in.

"What was she doing up here?" Scott questioned, "I don't understand why she hasn't used her spark yet." Scott realized.

"It's either because none  _us_  are in danger." Derek told him. "Or it's not working again."

"But she is," Scott told him, "Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know." Derek admitted, "But there was definitely some kind of  _struggle_."

"With who?"

Derek took another sniff in the air, " _Herself_."

Agent McCall entered an empty Sheriff station in a cast, with only one deputy manning the front desk, "Where is everyone?" He questioned aloud, but he turned his focus to the lone deputy, "We get a lead on our sword-wielding maniac?"

"Nope." Deputy Parrish told him, "But we've got posters up all over town for your guy." He pointed at a cartoon Zorro.

"Not exactly how I described him to the sketch artist." Agent McCall told him.

"Well, you're not exactly the  _highest_  priority of the tonight, Agent McCall."

"What does that mean?" Agent McCall asked, "What's the high priority?" He asked with some genuine concern.

* * *

At Stiles' house, Aiden was snooping among the items on Stiles' desk. He found a photo Stiles and Scott from the lacrosse season and then a framed Nemeton drawing that Landon was doing during the Darach killings.

"Didn't you draw this?" He asked Landon.

"Put that back." Landon told him.

"It's yours right?"

"It's one of them."

"She really does care about you, doesn't she?"

"She's like that with everyone," Landon told him, "Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find Scott's back-up inhaler."

Landon received a text from Scott updating him on their search of the hospital, ""Nothing at hospital Derek headed to high school. Isaac going to find Allison."" He read off, "Scott's with the Sheriff."

"And we're standing in a bedroom staring at the walls." Aiden told him, idly plucking at one of the red strings connected to Stiles' scissor-stabbed bed. As the string twanged with tension, Landon could hear whispering voices a bit clearly now.

"What did you just do?" Landon questioned him, Aiden gave him a guilty look. "Did you  _touch_  one of the strings?"

"Maybe." Aiden said unsure how to answer.

Landon repeated the process and his ear filled with whispering voices, "What did that sound like to you?" Landon asked leaning away from the string.

"Like a string being pulled."

"You didn't hear people whispering?"

"I  _definitely_  did not hear people whispering." Aiden said with confidence.

Landon plucked another string, only this time the voices were louder. "You didn't hear that?" Landon asked bothered.

"Landon, I'm not sure anyone hears what you hear."

Landon continued to pluck the string, "They're whispering." He told him, "Something about a house."

"What house?"

The voices continued whispering louder as Landon looked up from the string he had been plucking, "That one." Landon told him with confidence, it is a picture attached with the red thread.

"What's Eichen House?" Aiden questioned, looking at the building.

"A mental health center." Landon said looking at the picture, "It's where William Barrow, the shrapnel bomber, was committed."

"Is that it?"

"That's where Stiles is." Landon said confidently.

* * *

"No, come on." Stiles begged, still struggling with the metal trap that pinned her left leg. She continued to pant heavily and sniffling as her face was being covered with tears. However, she did hear another sound of someone else breathing once more.

"Who's there?" She called out. In the darkness she noticed the same shadow from earlier, "Who are you?" She whined. The Shadow spoke, but Stiles could barely hear it, "What?" The Shadow spoke louder and Stiles realized he was speaking a completely different language. It was Japanese.

"I don't...I don't understand." Stiles told him.

"Not who are you, Stiles." The voice switching to English easily and Stiles could see that it's the bandaged man from earlier, "Who are  _we_?"

Stiles made a groan of pain as she struggled once more with the chain, "It's getting colder, Stiles." The man told her, "Did you notice that we've stopped shivering? Do you know why that's a bad sign?"

She had indeed noticed, but that didn't stop her from being scared. "It's the body trying to conserve energy." She told him without hesitation, "It was my fifth grade science report."

"Hypothermia." The man told her, "Our speech is starting to  _thicken._  Then comes fatigue. Confusion." He told her, " _We're_ going to die if we don't get out of here." He said to her.

"Stop saying that!" She shouted in tears, "Stop saying we!"

"We're just trying to keep you from freezing to death." The man said ignoring her demand, "You better get up, Stiles."

"How?" She questioned angrily, "There's a _freaking steel-jawed_   _trap_  on my leg!" She shouted at him in anger.

"Is there?" He questioned her.

She lets out a sob as she flashed the light on her leg, the trap was still there. "Notice something different?" He asked her, "It was on your right leg before, wasn't it?"

"No," She whispered to herself, she was certain that it had been on her left leg. "Are you sure?" She looked back at him and back at the leg and indeed saw that it was on her right one, "What is this? What are you doing?"

"We're trying to save you, Stiles." The man told her, "We're trying to  _save_  your life."

* * *

The Sheriff, Scott, Landon and Aiden arrived at Eichen House, standing outside the gate. "Landon, I don't want to say "Are you sure about this" but-" The Sheriff told him.

"No, she's here." Landon said looking at the house, but not missing the look the Sheriff had given him, "I _swear_ to God she's here."

Once they get inside and have immediate access to the basement, "Stiles?" Landon called out into the basement. Indeed the basement looked almost exactly like the one where Stiles described to be held captive, but she was nowhere to be found.

"I don't get it." Landon said as they spread out through the basement, "This has to be it."

"Then where is she, huh?" The Sheriff asked panicking, "Where is she?" The Sheriff quickly realized that his reaction began to scare Landon, "I'm sorry."

They started making their way out of the basement, "I don't  _understand_." Landon said looking at the abandoned space. None of them noticed a backwards five scratched on the wall in the Eichen House basement.

* * *

Agent McCall had been reading the transcript of Scott's phone conversation with Stiles. He's focused on the bit about the burnt wood smell Stiles talked about and how it made her eyes water. Melissa showed up saying she just finished her shift and wanted to help.

Without argument the divorced couple headed out into the night, "So what are you saying?" Melissa asked in once they got into a black SUV.

"I'm saying the real question might be, how do we know she's not  _still_  asleep?" Agent McCall countered.

"You mean she's been asleep the  _whole_  time?"

"Well, people who sleepwalk can do crazy things." Agent McCall told her, "One guy goes down to the kitchen and cooks an entire meal. Another guy is found mowing his lawn naked."

"Why's any of that matter?"

"Remember that townhouse apartment we lived in?" He asked her, "There was that one night I came home drunk."

"Oh,  _one_  night? She challenged at him.

"Let me finish." He told her, "So I'm drunk, passed out on the bed. I get up to go to the bathroom. Then all of a sudden I hear you yelling "What the hell are you doing?""

"Because you were in the closet peeing into the laundry basket." She told him.

"Yeah, I  _thought_  it was the bathroom." Agent McCall reminded her.

"Oh, no, you were  _drunk_  off your ass." She reminded him.

"Yeah, But I was  _convinced_  it was the bathroom." Agent McCall repeated, "So how do we know she isn't just convinced she's in some kind of basement? And isn't actually there. I think when she called Scott, she was still asleep." He theorized. "And is still asleep right now."

"Then where is she?"

"I have an idea."

* * *

Stiles was deteriorating fast. She was close to almost convulsing with the shakes and could barely keep her eyes opened. The Man went back to drawing another backwards five on the wall. "You don't understand, do you?" He asked her, "It's a riddle. Do you know any riddles, Stiles?"

"A few." She said in a shaky voice. She couldn't help, but wonder if Scott and the others could find her or if she was doomed to be stuck in this god-forsaken place until she died.

"What gets bigger the more you take away?" He asked.

"A hole." She answered quickly.

"What gets wetter the more it dries?"

"A towel."

"When is a door not a door?"

"When it's ajar." She said, recalling the answer from the animal clinic.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?"

Stiles looked at the man confused, "I don't-" A shiver erupted through her body.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." He repeated, "What is it, Stiles?"

"I don't...I don't know." She told him.

But it seemed like the man didn't hear her, "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." He repeated. This time getting louder and angrier. Which struck a chord of fear in her. The Man stomped his way over to her this time speaking in the same Japanese language, but Stiles knew what he was asking.

"I don't know." She claimed to him, but he kept speaking the foreign language over and over to a point he to where he was now yelling at her, this time the man was clearly agitated and roared in her face.

"No! No! No! No!" She pleaded to him as she tried to crawl away. The man took hold of the chain connected to the trap that was still connected to her leg, yanking her back. "No, wait!" She screamed in tears, but the man paid her no mind and continued yanking the chain.

"Wait! Barrier!" She cried out to him. She held up her hand trying to create a barrier, but nothing happened and Stiles looked at her hand in fear. Her spark isn't working.

Stiles suddenly felt herself being forced on her back, snapping her right back into panic mode, "Wait!"

In the distance, a voice called out her name, "Stiles." But Stiles was so caught with being dragged across the floor it goes unnoticed.

"Wait!" She cried screaming and now in tears, trying to get a grip to the floor, "No, Dad! Someone!" Her body continued to get dragged.

"Stiles!" The voice yelled again, but once again was unnoticed.

"Derek!" She cried as her body continued to be dragged across the floor, "Derek!" She was then surrounded by darkness.


	12. Riddled pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have had many requests about me doing season 4 for the Hellmouth series. I haven't watched season 4 b/c of reasons, but I have to say I'm willing to do it for you guys. I do have a poll up on my fanfiction.net account (same name) just so that way I can see if people would actually read it or not. So go vote! It'll be opened until this season is over (looks to be about Sept. 19 or 20th). Anyways enjoy!
> 
> Here's the link: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3628979/iKnightWriter

"Stiles, you're all right!" A voice flooded into her ears. Stiles could finally hear the voice.

She opened her eyes and found herself shaking, screaming, and crying in the arms of Melissa McCall, "You're all right. Stiles, you're all right." Melissa repeated to her and holding her tightly. Melissa and Agent McCall found her outside the burned Hale house. Stiles held tightly onto Melissa still breathing hard.

Allison got a rude awakening of someone banging on her door. When she opened the door she discovered that it was Isaac, "What the hell have you been doing?" He asked her.

"Sleeping." Allison told him, but that didn't stop him from barging into her room, "What the hell are  _you_  doing?" She countered at him.

"You didn't get any calls or texts?"

Allison grabbed a hold of her phone and realized something, "My phone's off." She told him, "I  _never_  turn my phone off." As the device started up, a rush of texts from Scott show up on screen. "Sleepwalking? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, they found her a few minutes ago. They're bringing her to the hospital." Isaac told her.

"I don't know what happened." Allison said in a soft tone. "I _never_ turn it off." She also noticed there were also a bunch of voice mails from "Unknown Number" and as she listened to voicemail, she didn't have a clue to what the person was saying.

"Who's that?" Isaac questioned, as a man continued speaking in the Japanese language.

* * *

When Stiles arrived on a stretcher, Derek and the Sheriff immediately surrounded her as she got settled into a room. Stiles was covered with a blanket, since her body was still cold. Derek stood on her left side and the Sheriff took the right, "I thought I told Scott not to tell either of you." She told them. The Sheriff and Derek exchanged looks at each other.

"Which was probably the dumbest thing you ever done." Derek told her in a tight voice.

"I agree with Derek on this one." The Sheriff told her. The Sheriff rubbing his hand down her face, "I'm just relieved you're alright." He whispered.

Stiles lets out a dry laugh, "I'm a Stilinski," She told him, "I can handle anything." She turned to Derek. "Dad, can I have a moment with Derek?" The Sheriff was hesitant at first, but he noticed the pleading look she gave him and how Derek hadn't let her hand go.

"Alright," He caved in, "If you need anything I'll be just outside the hall." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and left the room.

Once, the Sheriff was gone Stiles immediately had tears running down her face, "Derek...I'm…sorry." She choked out to him.

"Hey," He began wiping the tears away with his palm, "You have nothing to be sorry for." He told her gently.

"I…lost the ring," She said looking at him, "That's why…you couldn't find me…the link broke and-" Stiles said getting on a hysterical level.

Derek managed to calm her down with a gentle kiss, "You didn't," He lifted her hand. On her left ring finger where it always been, laid the ring, "It's right here."

"It _felt_ so real." She started back-up.

"Stiles, don't think about the dream right now," He commanded, "You need to rest."

"But I-" She started to say.

"It's okay, we'll figure it out." he told her, wiping away the remaining tears, "Get some rest. After that we'll talk." He sat up, but Stiles took a hold of his arm.

"Please don't leave," She whispered softly, shaking her head. "I don't want to be alone."

Derek could feel and smell the fear on her, whatever happened to her was traumatic that much he knew. He took a hold of her face with his hand, "Hey," He told her looking at her, "You're not alone. Me, your dad, Scott, Melissa and everyone you care about are right here." He bumped his forehead against hers, "I'll stay till you fall asleep." Stiles gave him a nod now taking a hold of his hand.

"I love you." She told him softly as she started to drift off to sleep.

"Stop talking."

"Such a Sourwolf." She commented before giving him a dopey smile. Derek remained silent because he knew if he responded back she would continue talking. She didn't let him let go until her hand went limp from falling asleep.

* * *

Once she was asleep, Derek headed out to parking lot give Stiles' Jeep a jump start, it was the only thing Derek could think of doing at the moment. Whatever, was happening with her was getting worse and this time there was no escaping it. When he got to the jeep Derek found Aiden was there as well and it took a lot for him not to growl at him. Especially since it seemed like he had been waiting on him.

"So, you think she was just sleepwalking?" Aiden asked him, "Or is there something more to it?"

"In this town there's  _always_  something more." Derek told him.

"What if I told you I know something more?" Aiden asked him and Derek gave him a questioning look, "I kind of overheard...Well, I listened in on Stiles talking to Scott." He told him, "How she thinks she was the one who wrote that message in the Chemistry room. The message telling Barrow to kill Kira."

"You think Stiles, skinny,  _defenseless_ , my mate, Stiles is the Nogitsune?" He asked in an incredulous manner, "A  _powerful_ , dark spirit?"

"She isn't so defenseless when someone _threatens_ you or the pack," Aiden reminded him, "I'm not the only one thinking it. I'm just the only one  _saying_  it."

"This thing wants to possess someone and chooses Stiles?" He questioned, "Why wouldn't it take someone bigger, stronger? Someone who can use their abilities at will," He then connected two cables together and a spark lit up, "Someone with a little more  _power_." Seeing the spark made him think of Kira.

In the hospital hallway, Sheriff Stilinski and Agent McCall got into an argument over Stilinski's attempt to show gratitude for saving Stiles' life. After being told to shut up and take it, Agent McCall surrendered.

The Sheriff then turned his attention to Scott and Landon, who were in the waiting room. "All right, you two. You've got school in less than six hours." He told them, "Go home. Go to sleep." But the worried expression they gave him made him realize that they weren't going to go willingly.

"She's asleep right now." He told them, "She's going to be fine so go."

* * *

"I don't know what happened." Landon told Scott in a disappointed tone later in the day, "I was so sure."

"Yeah, I wasn't much help either." Scott assured him, "Doesn't matter, if she's okay."

A loud metal clanking sound filled Landon's ear and it caused him to stop what he was doing. Scott took a notice at the strange behavior, "Landon, Do you hear something?"

"No." Landon told him, which he didn't because the sound stopped, "I didn't hear anything." He said as he puts his books into his locker and shut the door and walked away in a daze.

Scott was still in the school hallway texting Deaton. His message:  _"Anything yet?"_  Deaton's reply:  _"Still working on it."_ He was so preoccupied and he doesn't notice Kira calling out to him.

"He's a little preoccupied." Derek told her, Kira quickly looked her shoulder at him, "But I can help you."

"Why would you want to help me?" She questioned him.

"Because I want you to tell me  _everything_  that happened at the power station with William Barrow." He admitted, "Actually, I want you to  _show_  me."

* * *

The Sheriff and Melissa were discussing Stiles symptoms. They've both came to the same conclusion –Stiles may be suffering from a disease that they were all too familiar with. The list of symptoms shown: Impulsive, Hallucinations, Insomnia, Night Terrors, Dissociative, and Confusion. The Sheriff concluded that they need to do some tests.

At the substation, Kira showed Derek where she was being held, "It was around here, I think. But everything kind of looks the same now." She confessed. As they both walked along the chained fence something on one of the metal boxes caught her eye.

"Is that a baseball bat?" Kira questioned him.

Derek recognized the bat from anywhere, "It's Stiles' bat." He walked over to the box and tried to pull off the box, but was a reaction to where the bat was difficult to move. When Derek finally had a firm grip on it and managed to pull it away. He noticed that there are indents on the ground leading to the box.

He could feel a pull from the bat and lets it guide him straight back to the box, "It's  _magnetized."_  He said as he released the bat. His eyes then fell on the 'High Voltage' sign. "Kira, I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know about foxfire."

* * *

At school, Allison and Isaac played the Japanese voice-mails for Mr. Yukimura. He told them the voice was giving instructions to Japanese-Americans as they arrived at internment camps during World War II, but he claimed the recording must be a fake because the camp mentioned in the message, Camp Oak Creek, didn't actually exist in California.

Meanwhile, Landon was hearing all kinds of sounds, locker doors slamming, doors opening, and feet walking amplified to 10+. Scott invited him to see Stiles at the hospital, but he decided to go home instead. "You sure you're okay?" Scott asked him.

"Yeah." Landon told him, "I'll text you later."

Later at the hospital, a doctor was looking over Stiles' medical file, "I'm not sure I know how to  _pronounce_  this. Or if it's not actually a  _misspelling."_  The doctor told the Sheriff in a room that was just outside the testing room.

"Just call her Stiles." The Sheriff said all too familiar people's reactions.

The doctor nodded his head and pressed on the intercom button, "Stiles, just to warn you, you're going to hear a lot of noise during the MRI. It's due to pulses of electricity going through metal coils inside the machine. Uh, if you want we can get you earplugs or headphones."

"I don't need anything." She told the doctor.

In the room, Stiles wore a hospital gown, while Scott stood beside her, "Hey, we're just on the other side of this window." Scott told her.

"I know, but you know what they're looking for, right?" She asked him in a quiet voice, "It's called frontotemporal dementia." She said messing with her hand, she didn't have the ring on this time. "Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my mother had." She said as a tear falls down her face, "It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers." She continued talking, "And there's no  _cure_."

Scott looked at her a sad expression, "Stiles, if you have it, we'll do something." He told her. Then he turned to where he looked at her dead in the eyes, " _I'll_  do something." They wrapped up in a tight embrace as both struggled not to cry in front of the other. Melissa and the Sheriff watched the scene from the other room.

* * *

Kira and Derek arrived at the hospital only Kira was nervous about going in, "I don't know if I should go in." Kira told Derek staying by the car. He gave her a wondering look, "You're going to tell Scott that Barrow might have used foxfire  _created_  by me to jump start the Nogitsune's power  _inside_  Stiles."

"Yeah." He said simply.

"Basically that I  _helped_  a dark spirit take control of his best friend." She told him. "And your mate. I'm honestly surprised that you haven't even attacked me yet." She confessed.

"You didn't do it on purpose," Derek told her, "But you should probably wait here."

Stiles was sliding into the machine. The noise it made was the same as Landon heard the night before. 

In the waiting room, Derek sat intensely replaying an old conversation in his mind.

**FLASHBACK**

Derek and Stiles both lay in the bed wrapped up in each other arms. Derek is enjoying the scent of him and Stiles mixing in the loft. It feels nice, safe, and most importantly it feels like home.  _Their_  home. He looks over at Stiles, who is sleeping on his arm, making a soft snoring sound. Derek rolls his eyes as he figured as much, she would be a snorer. He observes her sleep frame, looking at the moles that scattered on her cheeks and sees some that scatter on the side of her back as well.

He continues gazing over her frame, until his eyes fall onto her side where three claw marks have taken a permanent residence. Derek reaches with one hand and touches them. "I would say it didn't hurt, but then I would be lying." Stiles' voice rings, breaking his concentration. Derek hadn't realize she was awake until now.

"I should've been there."

"We're not having this conversation again." Stiles declares at him, "It was kill or be killed." Stiles sits up from his arm and looks at him with a lovingly smile, "Besides I told you I tend to be a lucky girl. Plus, you're here now and that's what counts." She places a soft kiss on his lips, "Do you remember the promise you made in New York?"

Derek is a bit thrown off by the sudden change in her voice and her question, "Of course I do."

"Will you protect the pack as well?" She asks him, Derek can see the worry in her eyes, "I know you and Scott have a weird relationship, but he's new to the whole Alpha situation and may make stupid mistakes along the way."

"I made stupid mistakes," Derek reminds her and sits up as well, "Where is this coming from?"

"I have no idea," She admits to him, "And I have no idea why I brought it up." She says hurriedly and quickly tries gets up to leave off the bed, but Derek grabs hold of her wrist pulling her back.

"I will protect them." He tells her, pulling her back.

Stiles gives him a smile, "Even from me?" She asks him softly.

Derek really wants to pin her to bed right then and there for asking such a question, but he couldn't find himself to do it. There's this look in her eyes, "Even from you."

**END FLASHBACK**

Scott entered the waiting area, "You know the stuff you we're telling me about chemo signals earlier? It reminded me of the time you were teaching me to use anger to control the shift." Scott told him.

"I think you and Stiles ended up teaching me more about that." Derek said with a small smile.

"Are you teaching me again?" Scott questioned him.

"Think of it more like  _sharing_  a few trade secrets." Derek told him, "I'm sure Stiles told you the reason as to why I left Beacon Hills, right?" Scott gave him a nod and Derek continued, "But that's not the only reason I left. I needed to talk to my mother." He told him.

"Your  _dead_  mother?"

"She told me something that changed my perspective on a lot of things. She said that my family didn't just live in Beacon Hills. They  _protected_  it." Derek told him, looking at Scott. "This town  _needs_  someone to protect it. Someone like you."

"And someone like  _you_  to teach me a few trade secrets. Also, I don't think Stiles could handle another teleportation trip." Scott said with a smile, "She threw up on me." Derek smiled remembering how Stiles did the exact same thing to him.

It took a moment for what Derek had said to sink in and Scott quickly jumps from his seat, "What?" Derek questioned seeing the alarm in Scott's eyes.

"She was trying to protect us." Scott realized, "Stiles was protecting us. From herself. We need to get back on the roof."

They rushed back onto the roof were Scott remembered the chemo signals Stiles' gave off. "What are we looking for?"

"I'm not sure. But I think Stiles wasn't just up here struggling with herself." Scott confessed, "I think she was  _struggling_  not to do something." They found a bag of tools on top of one a caged block. Just above them, Scott and Derek caught sight a large gauge electrical wire that had been partially cut. A few sparks flew from it.

* * *

On a random street, Landon was in his car gripping hard on to the steering wheel. The noise of Stiles' MRI had become so loud in Landon's ears that he tried to drown in out, by turning on his radio with the music at full blast, but not even that seemed to help. The noises had got so bad that the only thing Landon could do was let out a silent Reaper scream.

The images of Stiles' brain show up on a computer screen. The doctor points to the frontal and parietal lobes "Both those spots are showing signs of atrophy." The doctor told them.

"Atrophy." The Sheriff whispered.

"I'm sorry." Melissa wrapped her arms around him, holding him in a tight embrace.

Inside the machine, the noise continued and Stiles was in near to panic. She closed her eyes tightly and suddenly the noise was gone. When she finally opened them she found herself standing up. The MRI room was all fuzzy and out of focus, but the same man from before was there too.

"Have you figured out my riddle yet?" He asked, "If you answer correctly, we  _might_  consider letting them go."

"Letting who go?" She questioned, trying to hold back the fear she felt running through her body.

"Your friends. Your family.  _Everyone_  who ever meant something to you, including that wolf of yours." The man's voice had risen, "We're going to  _destroy_  all of them, Stiles. One-by-one."

"Why?" She asked weakly, with a tear falling from her face. She couldn't protect them. She couldn't protect any of them.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." The man asked the same riddle from before, "What is it?"

"I don't know." Her whole body began to shake.

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it? "

"I don't know."

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it." He roared at her, "What is it? What is it?" The man started to remove the bandages from around his head.

"I don't know." Stiles cried into the palm of her hands, until the answers hits her, "A shadow." She whispered. She looked up and sees that man wasn't a man at all. It was her own face.

The cut power cable on the roof exploded knocking out power to the hospital.

Stiles awoken in the MRI machine, but her demeanor had completely changed. A power surge dimmed the lights briefly, from the other room. "What was that?" The Sheriff questioned.

"It sounded like a power surge." Melissa told him.

The Sheriff looked back into the MRI room, "Where's my daughter?" Stiles was gone.

* * *

Stiles was in her room calmly tying her shoes, as people started to panic up and down the hall. The lights in the hall continued to flicker. Just as she was about neared an elevator, it opened up Ms. Yukimura waiting for her. Stiles immediately stopped.

"You know me." Ms. Yukimura told her. Stiles gave her a silent head nod, "Then you remember that I won't be  _deterred_  by your choice of host." She clipped easily, "Even if it's an  _innocent_  girl."

Stiles gave her an undeterred stare, "Are you threatening us?" The Nogitsune asked calm and unafraid.

In response, two of the Oni appeared by Ms. Yukimura's side, "Now I'm  _threatening_  you."

Stiles gave her a smirk, "We're not really afraid of your little fireflies." Stiles turned away and walking in the opposite direction.

"If the Oni can't defeat you," Ms. Yukimura told her, "I know someone who will." Stiles paid no mind to the treat and continued walking, but she had a smirk on her face.

Outside, Kira watched as the severed power line whipped around and off the roof flying straight at her face, "Oh, my God."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert: The major character death is coming up next chapter (Hint: Not a human) try and take a guess. See ya next week!


	13. Letharia Vulpina pt.1

A group of Yakuza were gathered at their boss Ikeda's home. He was angry because his pet, a white wolf, was sick. "Oh, my God!" The Boss exclaimed, "Why's it taking so long?"

"The doctor is on his way." One of his men assured him, "He comes highly recommended."

The Boss was already in an impatient mood as it was. He didn't take kindly to his man's answer and pointed a gun right at the man, "Did I ask for a  _professional_  reference?" The Boss questioned him, while cocking his gun, "I asked why it was taking so long."

"That is a question of time." The man replied calmly, "Not quality of service."

"Do you think I would pay for an idiot to look at him?"

"No, Ikeda-sama."

Ikeda turned his attention to the entire room filled with his men, but not before he shot the insubordinate in the head, "Can any of you idiots tell me why he hasn't moved in 12 hours?" He shouted at them. Not a single one of them answered, "No? Then where the hell is the doctor?"

At that moment, the elevator to the room binged and Dr. Deaton appeared quickly apologizing to the man. "Apologize if you can't do anything." Ikea told him, still trigger happy, "Have you worked with wolves before?"

"Here and there." Deaton leaned over to the wolf, looking it over, "And what's our patient's name?"

"Yuki."

Deaton noticed something stuck in between the Yuki's teeth, "Yuki, now what have you gotten yourself into, my friend?" He plucked the herb from the wolf's mouth, "Has Yuki been around any unusual plants? Something that looks like moss? It would be bright green, almost neon."

Ikeda was hesitant at first, which Deaton noticed immediately. "It's called lichen and it's highly toxic. I need to know if Yuki has consumed any."

"If he has the poison, just treat him." Ikeda ordered pointing the gun at him, but Deaton was undeterred.

"I'm sorry, but not without knowing the species. I need a sample."

Ikeda understood the dilemma, "It's in the garden." Ikeda turned to one of his men, "Shigeki, take him."

The man quickly protested in their native language. Of course, this resulted in another dead henchman for Ikeda. Ikeda looked around the room and noticed that all his men had remained silent and hadn't even bother to move a muscle.

"Superstitious idiots." Ikeda called them and ended up taking Deaton to a garden that had been sealed off by a huge door. "Is this what you're looking for?"

It was the same garden where young Chris Argent had his first encounter the Oni. The lichen grew on top of the fountain where the blood fell when the Nogitsune was killed. Deaton took out a glass container, while wearing a pair of gloves. "Hold this, please." Deaton instructed, which Ikeda took without question.

As Deaton made his way over to the fountain, "You really think Yuki got in here and ate this stuff?" Ikeda questioned him in wonder.

"Actually, I think Yuki probably doesn't come anywhere  _near_  here." Deaton said offhandedly as he started to take samples, "I doubt if you could even  _drag_  him in. Some part of him probably  _senses_  what happened here" Deaton told him. He looked over and noticed the shock look Ikeda has on his face.

Ikeda then pulled his gun on him. Deaton, just like before, remained nonplussed, before returning back to his work, "To your father and the Nogitsune possessing him. This particular lichen is called Letharia vulpina. Wolf lichen. They used it to poison wolves and foxes. They'd put out pieces of meat with crushed glass and bits of the lichen in it. The glass perforated the intestines of the animal so the vulpinic acid could reach the internal organs faster."

"What did you do to my wolf?" Ikeda declared, both angry and confused.

"Well, I didn't poison him with lichen," Deaton shared casually, "But I did give him a powerful paralytic agent. The same one I put on that jar."

The boss suddenly dropped the gun as his hand was no longer able to hold it and collapsed completely.

He placed the last sample of the herb into the jar, "Born out of the blood of a Nogitsune, this lichen is quite special." Deaton explained to him, "More powerful than you know."

"What..." The Boss struggled, "What are you going to use it for?"

"There's a fox hiding inside a teenage girl." Deaton told him casually, "And I'm going to  _poison_  it."

* * *

The sparking power line from the roof of Beacon Hills Hospital continued to make it's way, flying at Kira's face. Kira managed to quickly move out the way, but then, like it has a mind of its own, it started to chase her, backing her up in the parking lot. At the same time an ambulance suddenly sped around the corner and impacting the electrified line. Upon impact the driver lost control and rammed a fire hydrant, causing water to spray everywhere and pooling and running across the parking lot.

Kira quickly realized what was happening, "Get back!" Kira warned the people in the parking lot, "Everyone, get back!"

But it didn't do much good. Dazed by the impact, the ambulance driver stumbled out of the vehicle. When his foot touched the wet ground he was instantly electrocuted. Isaac and Allison, both arrived just in time to witness this. Allison quickly tried to make her way to help the driver, unaware that a puddle of water was heading in her direction.

Isaac noticed the steady current and hurriedly pushed her out the way, just as the water touched his foot. He too also received an electric shock, "Isaac!" Allison called out seeing his unmoving body.

At the same time, a young woman stepped out from her car and also gets electrocuted. Derek and Scott arrived just as Kira was able to somersault over a car and grab the live wire. She capped the sparking end with her free hand and the power subsided as her eyes began to glow warm amber. Kira's Mom exited the hospital just in time to witness her daughter's power. Derek noticed Isaac on the ground and rushed to his side. He placed a finger on his pulse, "He's not breathing." Derek realized, "Scott, he's not breathing!"

Ms. Yukimura rushed to Kira's side, "I saw what you did." She told Kira and started to pull her away from the scene, "Now's not the time for anybody else to see."

The chaos at the hospital was close to dying down, but Isaac had already been rushed into the emergency room, which left Derek, Scott, the Sheriff, and Agent McCall looking around at the scene in shock.

"Two people said they saw Stiles leave the hospital." Deputy Parrish reported to them in

"How is that possible?" The Sheriff barked, "Her jeep is  _dead."_

"One claimed to have said on foot," Parrish told him reading a statement. He flipped over to another page, "Another said that it seemed that she was surrounded by a blue light and disappeared."

The Sheriff made a confused face, until he looked over at the two supernatural creatures next to him. They both avoided his gaze. He would question them later, "Someone needs to find her." The Sheriff directed at Parrish, "Now." Parrish quickly nodded and got to work. The Sheriff followed along quickly.

"Stilinski," Agent McCall rushed ahead to catch up, "I checked that electric wire and it appeared to have been cut." Agent McCall told him. "Tell the others to keep an eye out for signs of  _sabotage_." The Sheriff nodded

Derek and Scott stood side by side, "You have to tell Stilinski." Derek told him, "You have to tell him what's  _really_  wrong with Stiles."

"What are you going to do?" Scott asked.

Derek used his enhanced hearing and focused on the sound of Isaac's heartbeat. It wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either.

"There's a promise I have to keep." Derek told him, before walking away.

* * *

Melissa was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, when Scott walked into the kitchen. "Any news?" He asked her with some hope in his voice.

"They're still looking for her." She shared with him. Scott's face easily dropped with worry, "It's past the 48 -hour mark, but I guess if anyone's going to be missing for two days and turn up just fine, it's Stiles."

"What about Isaac?"

"Maybe we should go by the hospital before school." She suggested to him. Scott nodded in agreement and left the room.

* * *

At the Sheriff's station, Sheriff Stilinski was looking at a text from his daughter. It read,  _"Am ok. Please don't look for me. Be back soon._ " He had been staring at the message for some time now.

"Sheriff?" Deputy Parrish's voice entered his office, breaking his thought process.

"Yeah."

"He just needs your signature." Parrish explained the indication for the delivery man enter the office, "It's just printer cartridges and stuff." Parrish explained as the Sheriff looked over the order sheet, "Batteries for the next blackout."

"Not a bad idea, considering the number of electrical problems in this town." The Sheriff agreed with him.

With that, the Sheriff handed Parrish the paperwork and Parrish and the delivery man left his office, but the Sheriff doesn't get another moment alone when Agent McCall appeared at the door.

"I know you're a bit preoccupied at the moment." Agent McCall told him, looking around at the mess of an office the Sheriff had.

"What is it?"

"This might sound strange, but have you had any issues with yakuza?"

"Japanese Mafia?" The Sheriff questioned him.

"Specifically, a guy named Katashi."

* * *

At the hospital, both Scott and Melissa found Allison pacing down the hall. "Have you been here all night?" Scott questioned her.

"Yeah," She told him, "They won't let me see him because I'm not family." Her voice broke, "I told them he doesn't have any." Scott took a hold of her in his arms. If it hadn't been for Isaac, Scott knew that Allison would've been dead.

"Well, he's got  _us."_  Melissa told them and pulled out something out her jacket pocket, "And I've got a key card." Melissa managed to let Scott and Allison inside Isaac's room, "Be quick."

Both of them were not prepared at all for what they witnessed. Allison took a hold of Scott's hand in a gasping manner. Isaac had been badly burned on the side of his face and neck. He was also hooked up to two different types of machines. He was also unconscious, but Isaac wasn't doing what he normally do.

"I thought he'd be healing by now." Allison stated, looking at the damage.

"So did I."

"Is he in pain?"

Scott reached out and took a hold off Isaac's arm. In an instant, Scott inhaled sharply as he gets filled with the pain Isaac was enduring. Unable to handle anymore Scott released in his hold, "It won't heal him, but it helps with the pain." He explained to her.

"Did Stiles really do this?"

"Whatever's  _controlling_  her did it." Scott voiced, "Whatever's inside her."

"Well, then how do we get whatever's inside of her the hell out of her?"

"I'm working on it." Scott told her with assurance, "But I also know she is going to do whatever she can to stop herself."

* * *

Later at the school, "The thing is, in all of the stories, kitsune are  _tricksters_. They're mischievous. They don't really get caught up in right or wrong or even understand it." Kira explained to Scott and Allison.

"If Stiles wasn't possessed by one right now I'd say that's her spirit animal," Scott sighed.

"So what does that mean?" Allison asked her, "It's just doing this for the hell of it?"

"No, there was something else I found." Kira shared with them," If you somehow offend a Nogitsune, it can react pretty  _badly_."

"How do you offend a Nogitsune?"

"I don't know." She told her, "But if it's doing something this bad, then  _someone_  really, really offended it."

* * *

In the locker room, Coach blew his whistle and grabbed the attention of the cross country team, "Listen up! Anybody catches the  _slightest_  glimpse of Stilinski, you contact the first available teacher. Got it?" The entire room was filled with agreement, "There's a card on my desk for Isaac Lahey, and every one of you  _losers_  is not only going to sign it, you're going to write a  _personal_  message so profound and  _deep_ , it's gonna bring a tear to Coach's eye. Who's first?" From the crowd Danny stepped up, "Ah, Danny! That's how you do it, buddy. Keep it PG."

As the team lined up to sign the card, Ethan and Aiden met up with Scott. "No Stiles, no demonic ninjas." Ethan reported to him.

"Things are getting  _too_  quiet." Aiden said with some agitation.

"Yeah, I know." Scott agreed, "Yeah, it's making me  _nervous_ , too."

At that moment their werewolf hearing picked up the piercing tone, "Do you guys hear that?" Ethan questioned.

Scott listened in close, "It's an emitter." Scott realized, "One of Argent's." They rushed out into an empty, trying to pick up the sound waves, "It's coming from the basement."

The moment they followed the sound into the basement, they see a familiar figure waiting for them holding an emitter in the dark.

"Okay, I know what you guys are thinking, but it's me." Stiles told them with her hands up as if to surrender stepping into the dark light, "I _swear_  to God, it's me."

Both Ethan and Aiden growled at her and started to make an attack on her. Thankfully, Scott managed to force them off, by throwing Ethan against a locker and then growling Aiden into submission. Scott looked over at his friend in shock.

"It's me, Scott. I swear it's me." Stiles pleaded to him, "I don't know where I've been the last two days or what I've been doing, but this is me. I promise."

"You know what happened at the hospital?"

"I know more than that." Stiles told him hurriedly. Over her shoulder she swung around a backpack and pulled out a blueprint, "You see this? It's a blueprint of the hospital's electrical wiring. You see all these markings in red?" She asked pointing at a spot on the rooftop. Scott nodded, "That's my handwriting. I know I did this. I caused the accident. And everything in this bag," She also had a bag full of rope, wire and tools as well as a map of the Cross Country Team's running trail. "It's all stuff that could be part of something bigger."

"What the hell were you doing?" Aiden asked, looking at all the items, "Building a Terminator?"

"Thank you for that." Stiles snipped at him.

"What the hell  _have_  you been up to?" Scott asked her. The trial was the same area where Micah Tate lost his family in a car wreck and where his father put out a bunch of metal bear traps in an attempt to catch the werecoyote.

"I think something worse." She confessed to them, "A lot worse." They all rushed out to the trails.

* * *

Landon noticed that his mom down at the end of the hall in school. She was talking to Peter Hale. As he drew closer Peter gave him a look before disappearing in the crowd, "Why were you talking to him?" Landon questioned her once, he got close enough.

"Because he started talking to me." His mother told him, "He's from the health department."

"Oh, really?" Landon asked, wondering what lie Peter told her, "That's what he said?"

"Yes, really." Ms. Martin told her son, "They're scheduling hearing tests with the students."

"Hearing tests? He was talking about hearing?"

"Yes," Ms. Martin said with some enunciation,  _"Hearing._  I'm guessing we should sign you up. He gave me his card." She showed him a piece of paper.

Without permission, Landon snatched the paper from her hand and looked at it some disdain, "Mom, this is a piece of paper with a  _phone_  number written on it." He told her in an unimpressed tone.

"I know." She quirked plucking the paper away from him, "Still got it."

Landon looked at his mother with some disbelief.

* * *

When Chris Argent returned home, the door to his office was ajar. He pulled out his gun and opening the door, revealing an ultrasonic emitter stabbed into the top of his office desk.

"Lose something?" A voice growled from behind him. Before, Chris has a chance, Derek knocked the gun from Argent's hand and placed his claws against his neck. Chris pulled another gun and held it to Derek's temple. Both of them panted heavily.

"Why are you breaking into my apartment?"

"My mate is missing," Derek growled at him, "So the better question is why are you leaving emitters in my loft?"

"I have no idea why that would be in your loft." Chris declared to him. Derek wasn't sure if he believed him, "I spent the entirety of the last two days trying to find Stiles." Chris told him when he saw the doubt.

Derek removed his clawed hand and backed away from Argent. "Any luck?" Derek asked him softly.

"No." Chris shared with disappointment, "You?"

"All I got was a message."

"What did it say?"

Derek hesitated for a moment. For the past two days he had been trying to figure out what exactly Stiles had meant or even if it was actually her. "She said 'Am okay. Be home soon. Please don't worry.''"

"That doesn't sound like a warning."

"I know. I haven't been able to feel or hear her since." Derek told him, he was close to leaving when,  _Protect them Derek. No matter what please protect them._

_Stiles?_  But Derek doesn't get anything back. Chris noticed his hesitation.

"What?"

"We're both trying to find Stiles." Derek told him, "Mind if I ask what you planned on doing if you find her?"

"Well, that depends on  _which_  Stiles I find." Chris eyed at him.

* * *

On the trail, the cross country team had already started out their run. Danny took the lead, but was passed by a gleeful Kira who suddenly realized that she could run supernaturally fast. Stiles and Aiden managed to catch up to Coach at the start of the trail.

"Coach!" Stiles shouted toward him, jumping off of Aiden's dirt bike, dropping her backpack.

"Stilinski..." Coach started, but noticed the state she was in, "Whoa."

"Coach, listen close."

* * *

Still in his office, Chris Argent noticed that one of his cabinets had been forced open. Inside there is a metal briefcase, "This isn't mine." Chris told Derek. He checked to make sure there were no traps before pulling it out. Once it was in the clear he laid it out on his desk.

"Careful." Derek told just as Chris pressed the buttons to unlatch the case. Inside the case was will filled with money, "How much do you think that is?"

"150,000." Chris said exactly, "But it doesn't make sense. We never took the money." He told Derek with a glance. It was the money that would have come from the sale of his antique gun to Silverfinger.

"Whose money is it?"

"It belongs to a yakuza named Katashi." Chris informed him, "He has a nickname."

"You mean something like... Silverfinger?" Agent McCall shared appearing by the doorframe. He had two other deputies with him and held up and evidence bag, containing a prosthetic silver finger.

"Where did you get that?" Chris asked him.

"Off Katashi's  _dead_  body." Agent McCall told him.

* * *

On the trails, Ethan caught with Danny by tackling him to the ground, "What the hell are you doing?" Danny asked confused with Ethan still on top of him.

"Uh, I missed you." Ethan told him quickly, before he started kissing him.

Scott managed to stop Kira, who was still giddy with her speed ability, by giving her a tackle as well, "Oh, my God." She claimed not at all bother by the sudden tackle, "Did you see how fast I was running?"

"I  _felt_  it." Scott told her, "But we need to stop the others."

Stiles, Coach, and Aiden arrived and they managed to stop the rest of the cross country team. Stiles found a chain under some leaves, but it was attached to nothing. She lets out a heavy sigh. Coach, however, was amused because he believed this was just another funny/weird Stilinski moment.

"Congratulations, Stilinski. You found a length of chain." He berated at her, "Can somebody now please tell me what the hell's going on?"

Scott noticed a tripwire, just as the Coach stepped into it. In a flash, an arrow punctured Coach's diaphragm, "Oh, crap." Coach stated, just before he collapsed.

Meanwhile Allison and Landon were seeking help from an unlikely source, "While it's smart to bring me with you, I still think the rest of this is totally insane." Allison told him.

"I tried to find Stiles and I led everyone into a mental institution." He reminded her, re-accounting his Reaper abilities, "I call that a  _colossal_  failure." Allison made a disgruntled sound, "Look, I just need to figure this out and he's the only one  _offering_  help."

"Peter doesn't offer help." Allison said knowingly, "He offers a chance for you to be manipulated into giving him what he wants."

"Fine." Landon said, "Let's see what he wants." He proceeded to knock on the door.

Without a second Peter appeared at the door, with a smile, "The hunter and the reaper." He noted at them, "Come in."

* * *

On the trail Coach was screaming, "Get it out of me!" Along with, "Oh, my God, I'm gonna die." Even through Stiles assurance of him not going to die Coach was still hysterical. Stiles had pushed on the wound in his stomach which has spread blood all over his shirt. This freaked Coach even more as the arrow was still in there and prompted him to scream for someone to pull it out of him.

Seeing a freaked out Coach wasn't exactly helping out with the situation, Stiles gave Scott a look indicating he should use his ability to take away pain. Stiles watched as Scott did so and Coach was no longer conscious. "I think he just passed out." Danny told them.

Scott pulled Stiles away Coach's body, "I could have killed him." She panicked toward Scott, "I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat?"

"But it wasn't." Scott assured easily her, "And he's going to be all right."

"I think I just heard an ambulance coming." A student from the group shared with them. Looking down the path not only was there an ambulance arriving, but there was also a familiar cruiser.

"And my dad." Stiles said with a smile, but her tone said otherwise.

* * *

At the Sheriff's station, Derek had been examining a pair of handcuffs, "So, I don't suppose you have any idea why Stiles would  _frame_  us for murder?" Chris asked him.

"Honestly," Derek said with a bored tone, "I didn't think Stiles was  _smart_  enough to frame us for murder."

"To be honest, I'm not entirely convinced that's why we're here." Chris told him observing the Sheriff's station.

"What do you mean?"

"McCall is going to come out here any minute and probably talk attorneys." Chris explained to him, "Say you've agreed to allow mine to represent you."

"Why should I  _trust_  your attorney?" Derek challenged, granted they were already in an unsteady alliance as it was. But Derek didn't want to include any more people hunting Stiles than necessary. Already pairing up with the hunter was biting at him.

"Because I'm not calling my attorney yet." Chris admitted point blank, "I just want more time."

"To do what?" Derek asked now curious.

"To figure out what we're  _really_  doing here."


	14. Letharia Vulpina pt.2

"She goes." Peter repeated for the second time, looking at Allison. Allison gave him a dead stare, not still moving an itch.

Landon wasn’t up for the demand either, "The last time I was alone with you... I almost bled out on a lacrosse field. So no she stays."

"Do you actually think I was trying to kill you when I bit you?" Peter asked with some disbelief, "You were my _backup_ plan, remember?" Landon tried not to, "Not to mention, the bite is what brought out your nascent abilities. You think power like that was going to come out on its own?"

Landon doesn't seem to be all impressed by Peter's pitch sell. Peter clicked his teeth, "I'm the spark that lit your fire, sweetheart."

"You attacked him and nearly killed him." Allison pointed out.

"Power doesn't come without a little pain and struggle."

"I didn't ask for it." Landon said crossly.

"But you're  _embracing_  it now, aren't you?" Peter asked him with a snarky smirk. Landon narrowed his eyes at him.

"How about the fact that you  _brainwashed_  him," Allison quirked, "And  _used_  him to bring yourself back to life?"

"So that I could be here today to help you master your abilities." Peter shared with some kindhearted tone, "Isn't it amazing how things come full circle?"

Allison rolled her eyes and had enough of Peter's antics, "He's _insane_." Allison told Landon, "We're leaving." Allison ordered before taking Landon by the hand and leading them out.

"You want the truth, Landon?" Peter questioned just as they got to the loft's door. Both Allison and Landon halted and turned back to him, "It's not the scream that gives you power. All the scream does is help _drown_ out the noise, allowing you to hear what you really need to." The sound of Peter's voice echoed through Landon's ears, "I can help you focus your hearing."

"But you want something in return." Landon stated.

"No, I'm dedicating my life to helping out  _narcissistic_  teenagers." Peter told him sarcastically, "Of course I want something in return."

"And what exactly would that be?" Allison asked him.

"I just want my nephew to have his mate back."

* * *

Coach was being put into an ambulance and Sheriff Stilinski finally got to hug his daughter. While that was happening both Ethan and Aiden were going through Stiles' backpack.

"Scott, you better look at this." Ethan told him.

Aiden was holding up some wrapping paper, "This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present." Scott told them, not fully understanding why it was important or suspicious.

"Wasn't that William Barrow's thing?" Aiden asked.

"A bomb made from nails and bolts all wrapped in a birthday present?" Ethan inquired, "Where did it go off?"

Scott looked over at Stiles, who was still hugging her father, "On a school bus."

At the school, every school bus was being evacuated, all of them expect one. Deputy Parrish got onto one that held one student, "They told me not to move." The student told him in a stiff manner.

"Jared, right?"

"They told me not to move." Jared whispered at him, "They said, "Stay right where you are and don't move a muscle."

"It's all right."

"I didn't know what it was when I picked it up." He whimpered, "I didn't know."

"It's all right, Jared." Parrish assured him, "I'm just going to take a look, all right?"

Jared was holding a box, which was wrapped in the same wrapping paper as Coach's gift.

* * *

Peter had laid out a pair of wolf's claws, "These are the claws of Derek's mother?" Landon questioned him.

"My sister, Talia." Peter explained to him, "Before, Derek had managed to talk to her and ask of her of something," This earned him confused looks, "Whatever she told him frighten him enough that he wouldn't talk to me."

"Hmmm, I wonder why?" Allison said with some disdain. Peter shot the Hunter a glare, but Allison remained unimpressed.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Landon questioned him.

The Sheriff was still ordering the evacuation, when Parrish appeared at his side, "We wait for the bomb squad." The Sheriff told him.

"I'm a certified HDT." Parrish shared with him, "Two years in the army. I can at least find out if this thing's  _real_."

The Sheriff looked around the cluttered crowd that had formed on the concourse of the school. He looked back a Parrish, who had the look of determination in his eyes. The Sheriff gave him a quick nod.

* * *

Back at the loft, Peter was getting impatient with Landon, "Focus." He ordered.

"I am focusing!" Landon shot back at him.

"You're not!" Peter told him, "I can see the wheels  _spinning_  behind your eyes." Peter told him, "Your hearing is  _attuned_  to a level of the universe no one else can hear." Then Peter dropped his voice in a soft tone, "But only if you're listening."

"I'm trying." Landon gritted at him.

"Try harder!" Peter yelled at him starting to make his way over to Landon. He didn't get close enough because Allison stopped him with an electroshock prod device, "Your aunt had one of those." Peter told her in a dark tone and flashed out his claws, but Allison refused to move, "Aunty Kate." Peter said in a mocking tone.

"Stop it." Landon told them pacing around, "Both of you." He was getting that chilled feeling this time. Only it was different.

Allison and Peter both ignore the demand and continued on, "Didn't do her much good as I ripped her throat out, did it?" Peter egged at Allison easily.

"She didn't shove it up your-" Allison told him, but Landon quickly cuts in.

"Stop it!" He shouted just before throwing the claws so hard they stick into a wooden beam like darts. He started to hear the whispering. Landon looked over at them with some worry as he made his way over to them slowly, carefully listening.

"Landon, did you hear something?" Peter asked, looking at Landon's expression, "What is it? What are they saying? What did Talia say?"

"There's a way to save Stiles," He answered still listening, "But she doesn't have much time."

* * *

Derek was just about had it with being handcuffed to the bench, "I could easily get out of these, you know." Derek shared to Chris.

"So could I." Chris told him, "But I'm not interested in being a fugitive from the law."

"Well, I'm not interested in being a victim to a 17-year-old possessed by a  _psychotic_  fox." Derek deadpanned at him.

"Just give me a few more minutes." Chris advised him, but Derek was already trying to break out of the handcuffs, "Derek!" Chris snapped at him.

Derek gave Chris one of his glares, but Chris was also giving him one as well. "Okay, fine." Derek dejected at him, "If something happens, don't expect me to risk my life trying to save yours."

Chris doesn't take any offence to the jab, "Are you supposed to talk about your mate like that?" Chris asked.

"Only when she starts to become a huge pain in my ass." Derek said with a small smile.

"Is that a general rule or is it one of yours?" Argent asked him.

"It's one of  _ours_."

Mrs. Yukimura was waiting for her husband in his classroom, "Close the door." She told him. They were both unaware that Kira had followed her father and was peeking through the door window.

Mr. Yukimura pulled a book off of one of the shelves, "You hid them in a  _book_?" Mrs. Yukimura questioned with some worry, "Couldn't you find something more  _secure_?"

"How many high school students do you know who would  _willingly_  open a book?" He asked with a small smile. He handed her the book, "You still haven't talked to Kira, have you?"

"Barely a word since the hospital." Mrs. Yukimura admitted.

"You  _need_  to tell her. Especially about this." He indicated what was inside the book. Inside the pages had been cut to create nine slots. Each was designed to hold a single black knife. Some of the slots were empty, "You've already sacrificed five. Three of the Oni are gone." He pressed at her, "How many more tails are you willing to sacrifice?"

"If I have to?" Mrs. Yukimura questioned, "All of them." She proceeded to pick up one and breaking it off, while released a soft gasping sound. Mr. Yukimura winced as if he was the one in pain, "These will be  _stronger_." She picked up one more and also breaks it. "Much stronger."

* * *

Parrish entered the bus and tried to keep Jared calm while he checked out the wrapped package. Jared had already started sweating profusely and Parrish admonished him not to throw up. He was able to distract the boy by explaining that he was 24, but still looks young and that anyone can look young if they eat right and exercise, but that it really comes down to good genes. While he continued with his distraction, he has managed to snip the ribbon from the box. He slowly pried open the lid and looks inside.

Outside, Parrish had radioed in the Sheriff, "It's not a bomb, sir, but there is something in the box." Parrish then appeared from the back of the bus holding up a name plate. A very specific one, Sheriff Stilinski's name plate from his desk.

The Sheriff looked at the plate confused for a moment, only for it to make sense in a manner of seconds, "My God." He said, "There is a bomb, but not here."

The Deputies at the station were in a panic, "What's happening?" Chris asked one of them, who was unlocking their handcuffs. The deputy in question, hastily unlocked Argent and Derek's handcuffs and ran for the door.

"What's happening?" Chris, then asked Derek. Derek's enhanced hearing kicked in as he heard a ticking sound coming from the box, back inside the Sheriff's office.

"Get down!" Derek shouted, just as he shielded Argent's body from a blast that busted through the glass window of the Sheriff's office.

At the school, Mr. Yukimura and his wife watched as the sun sets. At the Nemeton, fireflies erupted from the magic stump. These were slightly different than the ones from before. There was a blue, slightly metallic, sheen to their wings.

* * *

In the Sheriff's station, "Get me an ambulance here, at the Sheriff's station." Somebody ordered, "We've got an explosion. We got multiple officers down. Multiple officers down."

Scott and Stiles both rushed to aid some of the fallen officers, "Scott?" Stiles called out to him. Scott noticed that she was holding onto a dying deputy.

Across the room, Chris Argent was holding onto Derek, "Derek."

With some heavy breathing, "I'm okay." He assured him. His back had been riddled with glass shards as Argent helps him stand.

"You  _saved_  my life." Chris pointed out to him.

Back to the dying deputy, "Can you do something?" Stiles pressed at Scott, "Take his pain? Anything to make it easier?" Which he did until the man expired.

Kira then appeared inside the station, in a hushed whisper, "Go, go, go." She told them, earning a confused look from Scott, "The Oni. They're coming."

"Stiles, we gotta get you out of here." Scott told her. From across the room, he caught sight of Derek looking at Stiles' wide-eyed and looked ready to make his move. Scott instantly shook his head at him and Derek completely stopped, as he and Kira ushered Stiles out the station before two more Oni appeared.

* * *

"I said I don't know. I couldn't hear for real." Landon lied to him. He felt like there had to be some kind of mistake in what Talia had told him, "The parts I did hear were very cryptic."

"You're lying." Peter roared at him in anger manner, "Tell me what you know." Peter turned growling at him, "Tell me. Tell-"

Peter made it to physically threaten him, but Allison jabbed him in the back with the electroshock prod and was left writhing on the floor, "Now we're leaving." Allison told him.

Later, in the car, both Allison and Landon let out a relived sighs, "What did she say?" Allison asked. Landon started up the car and started to drive. "Landon?"

"She said that Peter knows a way to saving Stiles."

"Then why didn't you just tell him?"

"When has Peter ever helped anyone willingly where it doesn't result in the death of other people?" Landon asked in a tone. "There  _has_  to be another way." 

"What if there isn't?"

"Then he'll be the last resort."

* * *

Scott, Stiles and Kira arrived at the clinic just before the Oni, "It will buy us some time." Scott explained as they make their way to the side door.

"But they can get through it?" Kira asked him.

"Eventually." Scott told her. The moment they get closer to the door. The two Oni from the station appeared, "Stiles, get inside." Scott told her. Scott transformed into his wolf as Kira wielded out her sword. Scott and Kira fought them off while Stiles unlocked the door. During the fight one of the Oni stabbed Scott in the stomach, leaving the sword lodged in him.

"Scott!" Stiles cried out to him, rushing to his side. Both Kira and Stiles supported Scott as they made their way inside. "All right, come on." Stiles instructed Kira as they hobbled Scott into the examination room. The sword was still inside Scott as his body was trying to heal. It hurt just as bad as it did, when Gerard had stabbed him.

Once, they settled Scott in, Stiles' demeanor changed completely as she suddenly took Kira by surprise, grabbing her hand by the arm twisting it. To add to the mix, Stiles even banged Kira's head onto the table knocking Kira unconscious.

Scott looked over at Stiles aghast. Stiles looked at her friend up and down with a blank expression, "You okay?" She asked.

Scott could practically hear the wheels turning in her head as she walked closer to him, "Please don't." He begged her. Stiles played alongside the sword handle with her fingers, "Stop."

"It's okay." Stiles told him calmly. She placed a hand on his shoulder and took hold of the sword. Just from the pressure alone Scott made a groaning sound, but that doesn't stop Stiles from twisting the sword. "Does it hurt?" She questioned with no actual emotion. Scott knew it wasn't his friend anymore. He had known from the very beginning.

"Hey, look at me." Nogitsune/Stiles directed at him. Scott did as he was told, "You should have done your reading, Scott." She told him with another twist on the sword, "See, a Nogitsune  _feeds_  off chaos, strife and pain." There was another twist of the handle, "This morning, you took it from Isaac, then you took it from Coach. And then from a dying deputy." She said with a slow head shake, "All that pain. You took it all. Now, give it to me." She demanded.

She then placed a hand on the side of his face and absorbed all the pain Scott had taken. Scott choked in the process his face full of pain, but Stiles' face was filled with a look of pleasure and satisfaction. As she released him, Scott wavered a bit, but Stiles remained to have a tight grip on him, "You really have to learn, Scott." She chastised him, "You really have to learn  _not_  to trust a fox."

She gave him a wink, "Know why? 'Cause they're tricksters." She told him, back to that smile, "They'll fool you. They'll fool everyone."

At some point, Deaton stepped in to intervene, "Not everyone," he commented before injecting a syringe (with wolf lichen) into Stiles' neck.

Feeling the effects of the poison Stiles collapsed to the floor and fell into unconsciousness. Deaton steadied Scott as he removed the sword from inside Scott.

"What was that?" Scott asked him, "Was that a cure? Is she okay?"

"The fox was poisoned." Deaton told him, "But it's not dead." He looked down at Stiles' unconscious body, "Not yet."


	15. Echo House pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: The Echo House chapters may leave you confused, but that's okay because the character and the author were as well. That's the point.

Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski were in the police cruiser. It was silent between the two with the music playing in the background. They both wanted to say something to each other, but neither one of them could actually find the words to speak.

They pulled up outside Eichen House (a mental health facility) and without a word they got out of the vehicle and stared up at the imposing metal gate and the edifice beyond. Stiles felt like she could hear the whispers of the House filling her ears.

That was when Stiles and the Sheriff observed a familiar dirt bike pulling up beside them. It was Scott and he looked very upset, "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked his friend who remained silent.

"Because we wanted to avoid something like this." The Sheriff answered, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder, "It's only 72 hours."

"This is the _same_ place where Barrow came from." Scott reminded her, he wasn't focused on what the Sheriff was saying to him, "The guy who had a tumor inside him filled with flies." He looked at the Sheriff, "You don't know everything yet."

"I know enough." The Sheriff told him, "Nogitsunes, Kitsunes, Oni, or whatever they're called."

"Wow that was actually all surprisingly correct." Scott told him with some disdain. The Sheriff waved it away because he knew Scott was just acting out of anger.

"Scott, I saw an MRI that looked  _exactly_  like my wife's. And it _terrifies_ me." He confessed to him, "I'm headed down to L.A. tomorrow to talk to a specialist."

"Then why are you putting her in here?"

"He's not." Stiles finally spoke up, "It was my decision."

"Stiles, I can't help you if you're in here." Scott told her, "Have you even told Derek?"

Speaking of the devil himself, Derek appeared running down the street in his wolf-form. His eyes were glowing the electric blue when he finally stopped in front of them.

"What's going on here?" Derek asked, keeping the growl he had in the back of his throat down.

"Stiles is checking herself into this place," Scott ratted out quickly. Stiles could feel the hurt and betrayal coming off of him.

"We won't be able to help you if you're in there." Derek told Stiles.

"And I can't hurt you." She told them in a hard voice. "It said it was going to hurt everyone I love and so far it has done a banged up job." She told the werewolves.

"Deaton's got some ideas." Scott pleaded to her, "Argent's calling people. We're gonna find something. And if we can't-"

"If you can't..." Her voice cracked slightly, but Stiles managed to compose herself, "If you can't, then you have to do something for me, okay?" She looked at both Derek and Scott, "Make sure I  _never_  get out."

Stiles walked over to her friend and gave him the biggest hug she could muster, "We'll find a way." Scott told her, "Don't you worry." Stiles gave him a nod and simply turned to Derek, who wore a stoic expression.

"It's just 72 hours," She told him, but Stiles could feel the frustration that was leaking off Derek, "I already hurt my baby beta and best friend," She told him softly and Derek felt a growl through his throat. "It's not your fault." She told him quickly, "But I can't hurt you, Derek." She whispered to him as she wrapped her arms around him, "I don't think I could ever forgive myself." She placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a broke smile.

She turned to her father, who wore the same expression, "Let's go." He told her and with that being said the gates opened and Stiles and the Sheriff walked their way through. The moment they stood in the front door, a familiar howl filled the air and it took everything in Stiles not to turn around.

* * *

Once inside the facility, both the Sheriff and Stiles could hear the sounds of the patients' voices and sometimes an occasional scream or two echo throughout the house.

A nurse had taken them into an office, where the rules were explained, "First 72 hours there's no phone calls, no e-mails, no visitors." The Attendant explained to them, Stiles wasn't exactly paying attention because she saw a young woman with light brown hair staring at her. Something about the woman seemed familiar. She felt a tap on her knee indicating that she should be paying attention, "We will be taking you from here to a brief physical. In the morning you'll be assessed by a staff psychologist," Stiles snuck a look back, but the woman was gone.

The Sheriff wasn't having much luck either with the Nurse's explanation. It was like every sound known to man kept being bombarded into his brain.

"Speak to a social worker and attend group therapy." The woman continued unaware that neither of the Stilinskis were paying attention.

The sound of a door buzzed opened, "I feel like we're forgetting something." The Sheriff mumbled to himself as he shifted in his own seat.

"You will be wearing these, Stiles." The Attendant told her as she handed her brown slippers, "No laces allowed." She explained to them, "And please empty your pockets in here." When Stiles handed over her shoes, "I'm sorry sweetheart, you can't bring that ring in."

"Your pillow." The Sheriff suddenly said, "Your pillow. We forgot your pillow." He told her quickly.

"Dad, it's okay." She assured him as she took it off and handed it to him, "It's okay."

"No, no." He told her, "You're never going to be able to fall asleep." He told her. "We... We got to go back." He quickly got up from his seat.

"It's fine, Dad." She repeated, once more, "I don't need it."

The Sheriff sank back into his seat. "I can't believe I forgot it." He stammered, "I mean,  _every_  time that we've ever stayed in a hotel, the  _first_  thing you pack is your pillow."

"You can bring it tomorrow." She assured him, "It's all right." She knew her father was being irrational now. He started to sign the form the attendant had handed him when he suddenly stopped.

"Okay, you know what? Stop. Stop." He declared out aloud, "Enough. Stiles, get your stuff." He told her standing up from his chair again, "I'm not checking you in here if you're not gonna get one good night's sleep."

"Dad." Stiles interrupted him standing next to him, "I haven't had a good night's sleep in  _weeks_." She hugged her father tightly. Then Stiles was gone, off down the hall with the attendant, leaving her father standing alone and helpless.

As they ascended the stairs, Stiles caught sight of the same woman from earlier down one of the hallways. The attendant urged her on and when she looked back she was gone. On one of the landings above, Stiles noticed a man was knotting a sheet and talking to himself, quoting a riddle. "I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky." He then looped the knotted sheet around his neck and Stiles quickly rushed up the stairs leaving the attendant behind, despite the protests, "I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry. I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry. I can swim in the ocean, yet still remain dry..."

"Somebody stop him!" Stiles shouted still running up the stairs, but it was too late. The man leapt from the landing and hung himself. In the crowd of onlookers gathered in the stairwell below, Stiles noticed the Nogitsune as it made a snarling noise at her.

* * *

Chris Argent was talking to Dr. Deaton on the payphone at the Sheriff's Station, "Did you have any trouble with Ikeda?" He questioned.

"Only minor." The vet told him, Scott and Allison were at the animal clinic as well. "The white wolf was exactly where you said it would be. But we have two problems now." Deaton informed him, "First, the lichen is not a cure. It'll wear off in a matter of days."

"But while it does work, the Oni won't go after Stiles, right?" Scott asked with worriedly.

"I hope. Eichen House has an  _unusual_  history." He shared with the hunters and wolf, "It might not be all that safe for the Oni there as well."

"What's the second problem?" Chris asked.

"I checked with your contacts in Japan. The Yakuza Boss you saw killed by the Oni never found the scroll."

"What scroll?" Allison asked.

"A Shugendo Scroll." Deaton explained, "The Shugendo were the ascetic mystics of Japan. The scroll had information on how to exorcise a Nogitsune."

"So we need to find that scroll?"

"Exactly." Deaton informed them, "And I did get a name of the man who last purchased it. Kincaid. He was with Katashi."

"He's the guy who met with Isaac to buy the gun." Chris remembered.

"Sounds like Katashi wanted the scroll for himself."

"But Stilinski already told me nothing like it was found among his things." He shared, "And a paranoid like Katashi would keep it close."

"Probably on him at all times."

"What does a Shugendo Scroll look like?" Allison asked putting pieces together.

"Something like this." Deaton showed her a mock scroll.

"Do these come in different sizes?"

"Any size." Deaton told her.

"Then I think I know where it might be." She told them.

* * *

Stiles was now in panic mode, "Okay, I know there's the whole 72 hour thing but I'd really  _need_  to use the phone."

"The accident that occurred is being taken care of." The attendant told her. They were now in the room Stiles was going to be staying in.

"You're seriously referring to that as an accident?" She balked at her wide-eyed.

"Incident."

"Slightly better." Stiles said in an honest to God tone, but it didn't help her relax either, "Still need to use the phone. Just five minutes." The attendant gave her a square look, "Three minutes, please. A three minute call." She begged.

"Would you like to go to sleep, Stiles," The attendant suddenly asked off handedly, "Or would you like to be introduced to our five-point restraint system?"

"I would go with sleep." Stiles' roommate, who appeared to be strapped to bed offered to her. Stiles realized it was the person she had seen from earlier and it freaked out her even more.

"Hey, wait," Stiles said quickly just before the room door slammed shut. "Wait, wait!" But the attendant never came back. Stiles dropped to the floor with a deep breath. If she kept this up she was going to have a panic attack and that was something she didn't need.

"I'm Claudia." The girl offered to her with a smile.

"Stiles." She introduced herself, getting up off the floor and walked over to her bed slowly.

"There was a suicide, huh?"

"Yeah." She responded zombie-liked.

"Is it Monday?" Claudia asked, "There's a much higher rate of suicide on Mondays."

"Okay then." Stiles said, she stood up and was just about ready to materialize herself out when she remembered her spark wasn't exactly working at the moment.

She walked back over to the door, "Um, hey, can someone... Someone just please let me out of here." She asked to an empty hall, "Someone. Anyone."

"I heard it by the way." Claudia told her, "It happened in the stairwell, right?"

"Yeah." Stiles said amazed, "How'd you know that?"

"I heard the echo."

"What do you mean?"

"It's this place." Claudia explained indicating around the room with her eyes, "Something about the way that it was built. Everything echoes. Eventually. That's why they call it Echo House."

Stiles stayed awake the entire night as Claudia slept, even as one of the orderlies came and undid the restraints, but in the morning things had changed, "Have you been awake all night?" Claudia asked when she woke-up.

"Yeah, I can't sleep without my pillow." Stiles said,  _Or without Derek_ , she thought. She looked at her bare left hand were the ring would've been.  _This is for them_ , she reminded herself, _it's to keep them safe_.

Claudia started to have a coughing fit, "You okay?" Stiles asked.

"I swallowed a bug the other day." Claudia told her, "You ever do that? I keep coughing. Like it's still in my throat."

"That's disgusting, Claudia." Stiles said with a twist of her nose, "I just realized you have the same name as my mom."

"That's totally cool, I bet she is awesome sauce."

"Yeah," Stiles said softly, "You don't have any idea when they unlock the doors, do you?"

Just outside the door, they heard the sound of their door unlock as someone walked away, "Now." Claudia told her with a smirk.

In a matter of seconds, Claudia started giving Stiles the tour of the house, "Most of the people here are okay." She assured Stiles, "The violent ones are in the closed unit. That's Hillary. She has OCD." She gestured at a woman with wild hair, "That's Gary. He thinks he's Jesus Christ." She pointed at a man wearing a toga, "Dan. Also Jesus." She supplied just as a woman who was dancing with herself crossed their paths, "That's Mary-"

"Mary Magdalene?" Stiles joked slightly.

"No, she also thinks she's Jesus." Claudia said with a smile, "You'd be surprised how many Jesuses we get."

"Not really." Stiles mumbled to herself.

"Hey, how come you want to use the phone already?" Claudia suddenly asked her.

"'Cause after one night, I've changed my mind about this place being safe for me." Stiles declared just as she spotted some phones hanging off the walls, "Or anyone. Ever."

When she grabbed one of them all she got was a dead line and another girl was already talking to someone, "No. No, I think you're wrong." She said hastily, "I really think I should tell them. They're going to want to know the story." Stiles had no clue as to what the girl was talking about, "The whole story. I really think they should know. Yes, I do. One of them is standing right _behind_ me." The girl then hung up and the phone and walked away.

"Who was that?" Stiles questioned Claudia.

"That's Meredith. She's a little weird."

"You're a little weird." Stiles told her, earning a smile from Claudia, "She's a lot weird." She picked up the phone Meredith had left behind, "It's dead."

"Yeah." Claudia chirped at her, "They turn off all the phones for 24 hours after a suicide."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Why didn't you ask?" Claudia shot back at her, "What are you going to do now?" She asked just as Stiles started walking away from the phones.

"I'm getting out of this nuthouse."

"That's not really the  _appropriate_  way to describe a facility like this."

Exiting onto the Eichen House porch, Stiles spotted a familiar face, "Micah?" The boy looked directly at her with some confusion, "Hey. It's Stiles. Do you remember me? I'm friends with Scott. Remember. We were the ones who helped you out with-" But she doesn't get to finish her statement as Micah had thrown her up against the wall.

Micah was promptly tackled by facility staff and Stiles found herself face down on the ground as on top of a grate. It was the same grate with round openings that she remembered from her dream, when she was sleep walking. Only, in the dream she had been below with the grate looking up.

"No!" Micah yelled at the orderlies as they restrained him, "Hey, what the hell?"

"A few more like this, Micah" One of them told him, "And you're headed to the closed unit."

"Enough!" A familiar voice suddenly filled the air, "Enough." Marin Morrell told the orderlies. The orderlies let go of Stiles as the other took Micah away.

"Stiles." She said knowingly, "You  _saw_  something, didn't you?"

"That basement." She pointed at the grate, "I've been down there before."

* * *

In adjoining cells at the Sheriff's Station, Argent was waiting impatiently, "Still nothing?" He questioned, but he doesn't get an answer. "Derek?"

"Hold on." Derek told him. He used his enhanced hearing to listen in on a close conversation. Derek heard that Stilinski was out for the day and that the feds were taking all the evidence they've gathered, "You were right. They're moving all the evidence."

"Was there anything about the murder itself?" Chris questioned him, "Any other details?"

"Just about putting Katashi's things in a Federal Lockup and something about Stilinski being out for the day."

"You know, if all of this is true, people are dead because of Stiles." Chris told him with some sympathy.

"But is it really Stiles?" He questioned.

"Remember, we've had this problem before."

"But we got lucky with Jackson." Derek reminded him, "What happens when you don't get lucky?" He whispered to himself.

"I guess it depends on how much or how little of Stiles is left." Chris told him. "You ever heard of the Berserkers?"

"Germanic warriors."

"They wore the skins of bears to channel their ferocity." Chris educated him, "They didn't just wear them. They  _became_  them." Just like that Chris was reliving another memory, "You know, a couple of years ago, a family came to us for help with their son." Chris shared with him, "This group of teenagers, they were doing all sorts of rituals with animal skins. Somehow they  _tapped_  into it." He said quietly, "But with Berserkers, the human side doesn't last long. They're not  _tempered_  by the moon."

"He killed people?"

"He tore them apart." Chris told him, "Eventually, I had to tell the family their son was gone." His voice dropped, "It took three of us to take him down. Almost every bullet we had. And when it was over, I felt no remorse." Chris said in a strong voice, "None. I knew that kid was long gone."

Derek knew what Argent was getting at, "Would you feel any remorse putting Stiles down?" He found himself asking.

"Stiles? Yes." Chris told him, understanding what Derek was really asking, "But not a Nogitsune."

* * *

Stiles was attending group therapy with Claudia, Micah (who continued to shoot daggers at her), and Morrell, who was leading the discussion, "I want to go back to the topic of guilt today." Marin told the group, "It might surprise you to hear me say that guilt is a good thing. It's a rather mature emotion." And Micah made a scoffing sound catching Mrs. Morrell's attention, "Micah, you said something about guilt the other day. You said it came with a visceral reaction."

"I said it made me feel sick to my stomach."

"Guilt often becomes physical. You feel it in your gut. It's not just psychological." As she started going around the room, Stiles believed she sees the Nogitsune talking to one of the orderlies, "How does guilt make you feel, Stiles?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Stiles asked her.

"Guilt." Mrs. Morrell said patiently, "What does it make you feel?"

"Nervous." Stiles said biting her lip.

"Like a sense of _urgency_?" She interpreted, "You feel an urgent need to make up for something you've done. To apologize." Stiles looked over at Micah, who was still glaring, "These are healthy responses." Morrell told her just as Stiles sees the Nogitsune again this time sitting next to her in the circle, "Does anyone know what we call someone who doesn't experience guilt?"

"Sociopath." Claudia said with her hand raised.

"That's right, Claudia." Seeing that Stiles once again wasn't paying attention, Morrell noticed a red jagged line on Stiles' neck, "I'm sorry, everyone, but we need to take a break." Just as Stiles was about to leave, "Come with me, Stiles. I'd like to talk to you for a minute." And guided her into her office.

Inside her office, Morrell was able to see the entire mark on Stiles, the red mark that looked like lightning bolts running up her back to her neck, "It's called a Lichtenberg figure. They appear on lightning strike victims. The fact that they're appearing on you after a shot of Wolf Lichen is both significant and strange."

"By significant and strange do you mean hopeful and optimistic?" She asked.

"When the marks fade, the Nogitsune's grip over you will return." She went to her cabinet and handed a small cap of pills to Stiles.

"What are these?" Stiles asked taking them, "Sleeping pills?"

"Amphetamines." Morrell told her, "Sleeping is exactly what you don't want to do. You're vulnerable when you're asleep."

"So all I have to do is stay awake?"

"For now." Morrell told her, "If your friends haven't figured out something by the time those marks are gone, I'll come find you."

"To tell me what to do?"

"No, to give you an injection." Morrell said with her usual crypticness, "Pancuronium Bromide. It causes respiratory paralysis."

"That sounds a lot like death."

"It's used for lethal injection, yes."

"So when the Nogitsune takes over, you're going to kill me?" Stiles asked her dreading the answer.

"I'm going to do what I've always done." Morrell told her, "Maintain the balance."

"Okay then. I've missed our talks." Stiles told her about ready to leave, "Thanks for the illicit drugs."

"Stiles." Morrell said in a soft tone, "Stay awake."

Morrell doesn't even tell Stiles that she had been asleep, during half their session.

Stiles was attempting to get down to the basement, but the door was locked. As she struggled with the locked door Claudia appeared out of nowhere, "What are you doing?"

By now Stiles was used to people (Derek) appearing out of nowhere, "I need to get through here." She gestured at the basement, "To the basement."

"Doctors don't even have a key to this door." Claudia told her, "Only Brunski."

"Is that the head orderly?"

"He's got keys to  _everything_  in here."

"Does he keep them on him all the time?"

"If you want them, you'll probably have to figure out a way to trick him."

"Well, part of me is getting very good at playing tricks."

Scott, Ethan and Aiden had joined Allison and Landon at the Argent's residence, "My father said all of the Katashi evidence is being moved to a Federal Lockup by armored car tonight." She told the group, "Probably within the next few hours."

"We're going to rob an armored car?" Ethan asked them.

"Well, we're going to try."

* * *

In the girls room, Stiles took one of the pills that Morrell had given her. Just as she looked into the mirror she noticed that Micah was standing in the showers with a towel wrapped around him. "Don't worry, Stiles," Micah told her in a calming tone, "You didn't just accidentally walk into the Boys' Room."

"Oh, thank God." Stiles sighed with some heavy relief, "So what are you doing in the Girls' Room?"

"Shower."

"Oh…"

"They keep the water temperature in the Boys' Room too low." He explained to her, "It's much hotter in here. Ever since I turned back to human, I just can't seem to get warm."

"Maybe you just have a low core temp." Stiles offered gestured, "You know, you might just be sick or-"

"I used to have a fur coat."

"It's probably that." Stiles agreed with him, she was just about to leave when she turned back to him, "I was kind of wondering why you shoved me against the wall."

"Did you think I was going to thank you?"

"No. Maybe." She shrugged at him, "We did kind of save your life."

"You're right, Stiles." Micah told her, "Thank you." Stiles almost thought he meant it until he continued, "Thanks for  _invading_  my home. For putting me on the run. For turning me back to human so that I could look at my father every day and try to figure out how to  _explain_  to him that the reason my sister and mother are _dead_ is because I almost _ate_ them on a full moon. Thank you so very much."

"We were just trying to help." Stiles said weakly.

"And look where that's got you." Micah told her.

"I might know somebody who could teach you." Stiles offered to him, "How to change."

"What do you want?"

"I need to get into the basement." She confessed to him, "Which means that I need to get the keys off of that orderly. The big one."

"Brunski."

"You help me, and I'll help you."

* * *

"This is a really bad plan." Scott told the pack and the twins.

"It's not that bad." Allison assured him.

"It's not that good." Landon told them.

"None of us knows the route they're going to take." Ethan pointed to them.

"If Allison can get one of her dad's GPS trackers on the armored car then we can follow it." Scott explained pointing at a map of the possible routes the armed car would take. "So when it gets here-"

"We attack them?" Aiden jumped in.

"No." Landon told him, "Your bikes will be in the middle of the road, looking like you guys got into an accident." He explained to them.

"And when the driver gets out to help-" Allison concluded, before getting interrupted again.

"We attack him?" Ethan tried at this time.

"No." Both Allison and Landon said together.

"You'll distract him and Scott will break open the back door." Scott explained, "I hope."

"And you'll get Katashi's finger." Allison finished up.

"It's not his actual finger, is it?" Ethan asked with some minor concern.

"You are so out of our league." Landon told him.

"Why aren't we just going to Stilinski for help?" Aiden questioned them.

"Because if he gets caught, then it's the Sheriff tampering with federal evidence." Scott told them. Scott knew the Sheriff was already in trouble as it is, there was no way he was going to let him get involved.

"Guys, this is going to work." Landon told the unsure faces in the room, "We can do this. We're losing Stiles."

"My Dad's in jail for murder." Allison said.

"And so is Derek." Scott told them, "We  _need_  to do this."


	16. Echo House pt.2

Micah had pinned Claudia to the floor screaming, "You're lying, you're a liar!" They had been in the room where group therapy was held.

"What the hell's going on?" One of the orderlies demanded as they walked in on the scene.

"You're lying!" Micah shouted at her enraged.

"Get this nut-job off of me." Claudia demanded just as one of the orderlies took a hold of Micah and Brunski helped Claudia up.

"No! She said that they drill holes in your head." Micah declared to the entire house, "She said they're gonna put a hole in my head!" He ranted as one of the orderlies took him away, "Please don't drill a hole in my head." Micah begged, but not before he sent Stiles and Claudia a wink.

"You okay?" Stiles asked Claudia, who was recovering.

"Yeah." Claudia assured her and handed the keys to Stiles.

Stiles tried all the keys, but none open the door to the basement, "I thought this guy had a key to everything." Stiles commented aloud.

"I do." Brunski's voice said from behind her, "But nobody has the key to that room." He pointed at the door. A few second later Stiles found herself being manhandled by two orderlies. "Into the Quiet Room, little lady."

The two other orderlies along with Brunski had thrown Stiles into a padded room, "Want to tell us where you got these?" Brunski asked her holding up his eyes.

"A vending machine." Stiles said.

Brunski laughed at the response, "I always love the sarcastic ones." He told her, "Give her five of the Haldol."

"Wait. What's that?" She panicked, "Is that a sedative?" She asked as the two other orderlies came after her. She had her eye on the one with the needle, "Okay, hang on. Hang on! I can't go to sleep." She said thrashing around just as the one without the needle took hold of her arms, "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let me go!"

When the one with the needle got close to her, she had managed to kick him in the shin causing him to drop the needle. Which was how Stiles ended up with both her arms and legs, being pinned by the two orderlies and Brunski with the needle.

"I can't go to sleep... You don't understand." She told him as she struggled, but it was hopeless, "You don't get it. I gotta stay awake. I gotta stay-" She gets cut off just as Brunski gave her the injection and she felt her entire body relax. "I have to stay awake." She repeated before slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

Scott was leaving his house to join the armored truck heist when Kira showed up, "What are you doing here?"

"I want to help."

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea." Scott told her with an uneasy expression.

"Because of my mother?"

"No." Scott said quickly, "I know that's not your fault."

"Yeah, but it still feels like it is." Kira told him, "And if I can help, shouldn't I?"

"People who help us usually end up getting hurt." Scott warned her, "Badly."

"Okay, but I've been practicing." She told him, holding up her sword.

"Practicing what?"

"I've been picking this up really fast." She explained to him, "Like crazy fast." She unsheathed the blade and took a few swipes with the sword, like a pro.

"You're coming." Scott told her.

* * *

Stiles dreamed she's trapped in a locker, **"** No, no." She panicked, "Hey. Hey! Hey. Hey, let me out!" She demanded when she sees a shadow standing in front of the locker, "Let me out! Let me out!"

"Let me in." The Nogitsune growled at her.

"What..." Stiles leaned back into the locker, "What do you mean?"

"You know."

"Okay, screw you and your stupid riddles." She retorted angrily, banging against the locker door.

"No riddle this time, Stiles." It said to her, "You  _know_  what it means."

"Just let me out. Let me out." She pleaded once more, "Just let me out!"

"Let me in!" The Nogitsune roared.

"Hey, hey, hey. Shh!" Stiles woke-up and found her struggling with Claudia's hand over her mouth, "Shut up." She hissed at her. Stiles automatically stopped moving. Seeing that Stiles had calmed down Claudia pulled her hand away.

"How did you get in here?" Stiles asked her.

"There's a gaping hole in the door." Claudia told her, "It looked like someone threw a fireball at it or something." Stiles looked over Claudia's shoulder and sees a burnt circle in the middle of the door. She took a hold of Stiles hand and helped her up, "Your hand is burning hot." At Claudia's comment, Stiles could feel the spark slowly fading away.

"Where's Micah?" Stiles asked her.

"Stiles, there is no Micah here."

"What are you talking about he attacked me outside remember?" She told her, "He helped us with getting the keys to the basement."

"No that was Mary." Claudia shared, "Remember you talked to her in the bathroom?" Claudia told her as if she had lost her mind, "It doesn't matter, there's another way to the basement. Through the Closed Unit. Where they keep the  _real_  psychos."

* * *

Outside the Sheriff's station, Allison, Scott and Kira watched the armored truck. Allison sent Kira to attach the GPS tracker to the truck. Just as she clicked the device in place, Deputy Parrish exited the station.

Kira hid on the other side of the vehicle. Parrish opened the door and found the driver unconscious and bloody.

Just as Parrish drew his sidearm and made his way around to the back of the truck scanning the parking lot. While his back was turned, the doors of the truck flew open and a man jumped down and knocking the deputy out cold.

"Who the hell is that?" Allison whispered at Scott.

"Kincaid."

As Kincaid retrieved the silver finger. Scott politely interrupted him, "We need that finger."

"Why should I give it to you?" Kincaid asked him. From behind Scott, Kincaid noticed that Allison was armed with her bow. She also had a briefcase and kicked it over to him.

He looked at it before turning his attention back to her, "There's $ 150,000 in it." She told him.

"The scroll inside this prosthetic finger is worth three million." Kincaid told the couple.

"Give me the finger." Scott told the man, earning him a questioning look, "You know what I mean."

From the top of the armored truck Kira jumped down onto Kincaid's back. He shrugged her off easily and bared his fangs at the kitsune, wolf and hunter.

"I guess negotiations are over." He growled.

* * *

"Do you know what you're looking for?" Claudia asked Stiles as they reached the basement. Nothing was making sense anymore, but Stiles wasn't ready to question what exactly was going on.

"Something to do with that." Stiles told her pointed at the Japanese symbol for "self" scratched into the wall. There apparently was a couch in the middle of the basement floor.

"What does it mean?"

"Self." Stiles told her.

"Maybe you should tell me more." Claudia pressed to her.

"You might not like me if you know any more."

"That exactly what the man I married said to me," Claudia told her, "After he shot somebody in the line of duty."

"Your husband killed a man?"

"Of course, he did. He had to," Claudia paused, "After all he's in law enforcement." In front of her Claudia rapidly aged into someone Stiles hadn't seen in a long time.

* * *

Kincaid removed one of Allison's arrows from his body. Kira took a swing, but was picked up by the throat and thrown aside. Allison also gets backhanded.

Scott took several swings, but Kincaid barely flinched. He managed to grab Scott's arms and pinned them to his side and delivered a headbutt that staggered the teen wolf onto the ground.

Scott recovered easily by back swinging, but took a punch to the gut and a chop to the back followed by a kick to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him, "You have the eyes of an Alpha." Kincaid told him as he noted Scott's red eyes, "But where's the  _strength?"_

"Up here." Both Ethan and Aiden said as they pounced from a railing gaining the upper hand on the bigger wolf and beating the crap out of him, "Ethan, Aiden," Scott tried at them, when he could see they were going too far, "Stop!"

"You want him to come after us?" Aiden questioned him.

"Scott, we've seen guys like this." Ethan told him, "Trust us. He's _dangerous_."

"So are we." Scott said, looking at Kincaid, "And he looks smart enough to remember that." He proceeded to take the silver finger, removed the scroll and lets the silver piece drop to the ground, "We're here to  _save_  a life. Not end one."

* * *

Stiles suddenly woke-up and found herself on a couch being cuddled by a familiar arm, "Derek?" She questioned as she turned over she sees him looking right at her.

"You're awake." He said to her.

"I had the strangest dream," Stiles told him, "I dreamed about my mom and we were in-" She stopped talking when she looked around and noticed that she was still in the Eichen House basement. She quickly moved away from him, nearly falling to the floor in the process.

"Stiles." He said sitting up.

"No back away!" She demanded at him, "You're not real. None of this is real!" She backed all the way into the wall that had "self" kanji carved in the wall. Just as her body hit the wall a hollowed sound echoed through the room.

"Did you hear that?" Derek asked her. Well, fake Derek as far as Stiles was concerned. Right now, she wanted to handle on crisis at a time. It didn't help that Derek made his way over to her and punched through the wall, revealing a skeleton.

"This is him." Stiles told him recognizing the jacket that the skeleton wore.

"The Nogitsune?" Fake Derek asked. He reached into the pocket of the corpse and removed a photograph. Handing it to Stiles, "Recognize them?"

"One of them." Stiles told him just before getting tazed from behind. The Derek beside her vanished quickly and Stiles fell onto her back face to face with her mother.

"Mom?" Stiles asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what any good mother does." Claudia explained leaning into her space, "I'm trying to save you." Claudia told her, just before she tazed Stiles once more causing herself to blackout.

* * *

Scott and Landon met with Deaton at the animal clinic. "There isn't much here, unfortunately." Deaton told them.

"Does it say anything?"

"My Japanese isn't great." Deaton told him, "But it appears to say that one method of expelling a Nogitsune is to change the body of the host."

"Change the body?" Landon questioned confused.

"Which begs the question," Deaton told them, "How do we change Stiles' body?"

"By turning her into a werewolf." Scott realized.

* * *

Stiles woke-up and found herself strapped to a chair with her mother looking at her, "I borrowed a few pointers from the five point restraint." Claudia told her.

"You're not real," Stiles panicked and struggled with the restraints, "You're not real. You're dead." Stiles found herself crying.

"Mie-" Claudia started to say and Stiles knew exactly what was about to come next.

"Don't you  _dare_  say my name!" Stiles screamed at her. It was too much. Stiles knew it was just another mind trick, but this trick was becoming the cruelest of them all. "None of this is real!"

"I'm not letting you go until you let me in!" Claudia declared this time it was the Nogitsune's voice. "Let me in." She started to scream in her face, "Let me in, Stiles! Let me in!"

"No!" Stiles screamed struggling against the restraints, but nothing was working.

"Let me in or I'll go after that beta of yours. You know the one you call your baby beta?" The Nogitsune snared at her and Stiles suddenly stilled, "I'll go after them one by one, Stiles. You know I will. I've done it before and I'll do it again." She threatened, "This time it'll be personally."

As the Nogitsune continued to pose as her mother, Stiles found the scene around them was no longer in the basement. Instead she was now in the hospital room where Isaac was. The Nogitsune appeared right beside Isaac's hospital bed and held Isaac by the throat, "No!" Stiles cried and tried to move, but she couldn't, "Let him go please!" Stiles had to tear her eyes away from the scene.

The Nogitsune released Isaac and placed itself right on top of Stiles taking a hold of her face. "Let me in, Stiles! Let me in!" The Nogitsune demanded this time using Claudia's voice. "Let me in and I'll let them live." She said gripping tightly to Stiles' face. "Let me in or I'll kill them all!"

Stiles released a scream before she woke-up on the basement floor. However, it was no longer Stiles anymore. Stiles looked at an unconscious body that laid on the floor and smirked before exiting the basement undetected. 


	17. The Fox and the Wolf pt.1

**FLASHBACK**

In 1943 two soldiers are offloading the bodies of dead Americans into a field at night. Merrick is riddling Hayes. "There's an answer, I swear." Merrick assures Hayes, "Come on, just try." Merrick has been at it all evening and Hayes is trying his best to ignore him, "What gets broken without being held?" Merrick asks him, once again as they move a dead body.

"I don't care." Hayes tells him just as they drop with body along with the others.

"A promise." Merrick answers for him anyway, "Get it?"

"No, I don't. It's stupid." They take hold of another body, "It's not funny.  _None_  of this is funny." Hayes tells him indicating at the dead body pile.

"What has teeth but doesn't bite?"

"Will you shut up already?"

"Come on. This one's good." Merrick tries again, "What has teeth but doesn't bite?" Hayes refuses to answer him, "A comb."

"These jokes are stupid." Hayes shares with him.

"They're not jokes, idiot." Merrick informs him as they took out the last body from the van, "They're riddles. My girl back home loves them." They drop the last body onto the pile and head back towards the truck, "What has a neck, but no head?"

"Your mother." Hayes shot easily at him.

"A bottle." Merrick answers, ignoring the jab. As he retrieves two gas cans, a bandaged figure stands up from the pile of bodies.

"What the hell?" Hayes questions as he is the one who notices it first. Its mouth is a bloody gash with shiny silver teeth. It begins advancing on them. Hayes fires a handgun into the creature several times but it never slows. In fact, it starts to growl at him. Reaching the gun wielding man, the figure twists the weapon in his hand and fires several shots into the soldier's guts.

Dropping Hayes' dead body to the ground, it then rounds the truck to Merrick who is attempting to reach the safety of the truck. Merrick attempts to shoot at the figure as well, but it too is proven useless. Once the figure it close enough to him, it grabs him by the head.

"What has a neck but no head?" It shouts at him. It then rips the soldier's head from his neck and roars into the night sky.

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

On a Saturday afternoon, Mr. Yukimura was preparing his blackboard in the history classroom. He noticed a fly buzzing around and, when it landed on his desk, he crushed it with a text book. At that same moment, Nogitsune/Stiles appeared at the door.

"Coming in on a Saturday. That's dedication." She told him slowly making her way into the classroom, "Where's she hiding them?" She stopped by the bookcase.

Mr. Yukimura stayed at his desk, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Her little knives." Stiles told him, "Daggers. I know what they are." Stiles informed him just as she purposefully started to knock down all the books off the shelf, "Physical representation of her tails. However the hell that works."

"Maybe you'd like to do some reading on it." Mr. Yukimura feigned ignorance, "I can direct you to the section on Japanese myth in the library."

"No. No, I'd like to talk to you." Stiles told him, turning her attention toward him now, "The older the tail, the stronger the Oni. Am I right?" She questioned with a crooked smile, "I know there's one left. I know it's the strongest."

"Unfortunately, I still don't know what you're referring to." Mr. Yukimura told her.

Stiles narrowed her eyes at him, "You'll talk." She said confidently standing by his desk. Stiles wore back the poker face and lifted the textbook. The fly was alive and flew directly into Mr. Yukimura's mouth. He started to cough and choke. "They  _always_  talk." She told him.

* * *

In Kira's room, she and Scott examined a picture of a woman and man from 1943. "This looks just like me." Kira told him, showing the picture, "This has to be my grandmother."

Scott noticed that there was similarities between the pictures, "Stiles left this picture in the room she was staying at in Eichen House." Scott explained to her, "This picture and this." He held up the picture he had gotten, it was taken from the body in the wall in the basement of Eichen House along with a Katana and scabbard, "Apparently she found it with a body buried in a wall. The same backwards five that the Oni put on us was on the wall. It sounds like it all goes back to your family. Your grandmother, your mom."

Kira's phone buzzed with a text from her father.

They rushed to the school and found Kira's mom trying to comfort her husband who was still choking on the floor where Stiles left him, "Kira, did you bring it?" Mrs. Yukimura asked her.

"You going to tell me what it is?" Kira asked as she handed over a small vial.

"Reishi."

"You're not  _seriously_  giving Dad magic mushrooms?" Kira questioned in total shock. Mrs. Yukimura doesn't answer as she fed Mr. Yukimura the fungus. It does the trick and within a couple of seconds Mr. Yukimura coughed up a black fluid and was fully recovered.

"Are you okay?" Mrs. Yukimura questioned her husband. He gave her a nod as he wiped away the black fluid with his handkerchief.

"Stiles did this?" Scott questioned.

"She wanted the last kaiken." Mrs. Yukimura told him. She produced the remaining dagger from the book she had been keeping it in, "I've kept this near me ever since your friend disappeared."

"Mom, you need to talk to us, about everything." Kira told her, holding up the old photograph.

"Where did you get this?" Mrs. Yukimura asked in awe, taking the photo from her hand.

"Is it Grandma?"

"No." She flipped over the picture. On the back it has the names of Noshiko Yukimura and Corporal Rhys, "It's me."

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

Back in 1943, Hayes, Merrick and Corporal Rhys are offloading supplies at Camp Oak Creek, "Merrick, what did you say the count was?" Hayes questions him.

"Five." Merrick answers him, "Five crates apples."

"There's only three left here." Rhys told shares with them by the pile of crates of leftover apples. Merrick gets one of the as Rhys starts up the vehicle.

When Hayes goes to the pile to get another crate he notices that one of the crates goes missing, "Okay, four crates apples."

"Hayes, come on!" Rhys shouts from the front.

In a shadowed corner, a young Noshiko has a smile on her face.

**END FLASHBACK**

"If that's you," Scott told her already confused, "Then you'd have to be like 90 years old."

"Closer to 900." Noshiko offered to him.

"Okay, sure." Scott said rolling with it.

"Why not?" Kira shrugged. She looked at her dad suspiciously, "Dad, how old are you?"

"43." Mr. Yukimura shared, "But I've been told I look mid-30s."

Kira handed off the katana to her mother. Noshiko opened the scabbard and the broken pieces of the sword fall out, "The blade was shattered the last time it was used." She explained to them.

"When was that?"

"1943." Noshiko shared, "Against a Nogitsune."

"All this, it's all happened before, hasn't it?" Scott realized, Noshiko gave him a nod.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Mr. Yukimura quoted, looking at his wife.

"Where did it come from?" Kira asked.

"It was an internment camp during World War II." He shared with them, "In Oak Creek. Not too far from here."

"Hold on." Scott told him, "You told Allison and Isaac that there was no internment camp at Oak Creek."

"Allison's family has a  _certain_  history of violence." He reasoned, "I didn't know if she could be trusted. There was a camp, yes."

"But all the records were erased." Noshiko told them with a hint of anger, "They  _covered_  it up."

"When I was a grad student, my passion project, actually more like an obsession, was trying to dig up the truth on Oak Creek." Mr. Yukimura explained, "It's how I met your mother, Kira."

"So, where did the Nogitsune come from?" Kira questioned them.

"Isn't it obvious yet?" Her mother asked, "It came from me."

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

Inside one of the barracks at Oak Creek, a woman is handing out the apples Noshiko stole from the truck earlier. She warns the other prisoners to keep their voices down because if the guards hear they'll get nothing. Noshiko give a baseball she stole from soldier Hayes to Michio, a young boy.

The cautious woman chastises Noshiko for stealing the baseball, knowing it could cause trouble. "I can feel your glare on the back of my head, Satomi." Noshiko tells her. Noshiko turns to the older woman playing a board game called "Go".

"You take too frequently." Satomi tells her, "And you take too much."

"Should I give some back?" Noshiko asks as she produces a bottle full of aspirins, "I know you get migraines at least once a month."

Satomi isn't impressed nor persuaded, "I prefer to suffer." Noshiko places the pills back in her pocket and gives her a disdaining stare, "I know what you think of me, Noshiko. You think I am weak because I follow the rules." Satomi shares with her, "You think rules are for the obedience of fools and cowards."

"The young fox always knows the rules so she can break them." Noshiko says casually, "The older, wiser animal learns the exceptions to the rules."

At that moment Michio's ball goes flying through the window pane shattering the glass. Everyone panics and hides the stolen goods.

Soldiers Hayes, Merrick and Corporal Rhys respond to the noise. Merrick says there were supplies stolen. He begins to touch one of the female prisoners, suggestively searching the pockets of her dress. Hayes begins searching the bunks but Rhys stops them. He says the prisoners are to fix the window and delays the search for the stolen goods until the next day.

Before he exits, Rhys returns the baseball to Michio.

To Noshiko, Satomi says "jigoujitoku" as the soldiers leave. "Or as the Americans say, you reap what you sow."

 **END**   **FLASHBACK**

Noshiko tried to get her daughter to help her reassemble the katana. "Kira, I need your help on this. There isn't much time." She looked out into the sunset, "And this is something that needs to be done in the daylight."

"Not until you tell us everything." Kira retorted, not even moving. Noshiko looked at her daughter in shock and turned to her husband.

"Tell them, Noshiko." He told her, "Tell them what they need to know."

Noshiko looked back between Scott and Kira, "Wolves and foxes tend not to get along." She warned them, "Not just in fables and stories." There was an obvious snip as Kira and Scott looked at each other nervously.

"But allies, however unlikely, should be welcomed." Mr. Yukimura assured them, "Especially in times of war."

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

Corporal Rhys and Noshiko meet in the motor pool at the camp. They are in love but Rhys warns her not to steal so much, "especially medical supplies."

"So what if they notice?" Noshiko challenges him not caring. Rhys responds in the Japanese language, " _You're_  quoting Japanese proverbs to me?"

"The stake that sticks out gets hammered down." He translates effortlessly, "It's a good proverb."

He then shows her a familiar candy bar, "Oh, my God. Is that chocolate?" She asks him excitedly. He gives her the bar with a loving smile.

"I thought you liked it when I'm tough."

"I like chocolate more." They kiss.

_Okay stop!_

**END**   **FLASHBACK**

"Just stop." Kira repeated harshly, "We don't want to hear your Casablanca story." Kira disclosed to her, "We wanna know how to save Stiles."

"I'm trying to tell you."

"You're trying to stall." Scott realized, "When the sun goes down, the Oni are gonna come after her again, aren't they?"

"Your friend's gone, Scott."

"I don't think you know that for sure." Scott challenged her, "You brought the Oni." He said pointedly, "Can you call them off?"

"It's not her fault." Noshiko told him, "Stiles may be your best friend." Noshiko told him gravely, "She might be like a sister to you. But she  _is_  Nogitsune now." She reminded him, "She is _void_."

"You don't understand," Scott told her with a headshake, "She's Derek's mate, no way he is going to let that happen and neither will I." He shared with her, "So can just you call them off?"

"When you hear the rest of the story, you won't want me to."

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

" _Rhys and I found ways to see each other. Sometimes at the barracks. Sometimes in the bunkers where they parked military vehicles. He was being transferred to North Africa in a few weeks. I was teaching him some French."_

In the back of a military vehicle, Rhys makes another fail attempt at the French language, "Foudre." Noshiko corrects him, "It's an "ah" sound."

"Coup de foudre." He tries again.

"Not bad." Noshiko says with some impression, "It's an idiom." She informs him, "But the literal translation is "bolt of lightning.""

"Embrasse-moi." Rhys says effortlessly.

"I don't remember teaching you that." Noshiko tells him tenderly.

"That one's self-taught." Rhys says clearly happy that he has impressed her, "I figured it might come in handy."

"So, embrasse-moi." Noshiko leans into him, "Kiss me."

They get interrupted when they overhear Merrick and Hayes talking to the camp's doctor. Money changes hands, but it's unclear why.

 **END**   **FLASHBACK**

Noshiko had clutched a piece of the broken sword so tightly that her hand begins to bleed, "Noshiko." Mr. Yukimura told her.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Kira asked worriedly. Noshiko opened her fist and her hand was healed, "How did you do that?"

"It's one of our talents. Something you'll learn, Kira." She explained to her, "You should've noticed by now that you never get sick.  _Ever_. You'll never experience something as simple as a common cold. Something as bad as the flu. Or something like..."

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"Pneumonia." Noshiko declares to another nurse as a man name Rinko starts having another coughing fit. The pneumonia sweeps through the Oak Creek camp.

"I'm okay." Rinko assures her, "It's not that bad."

When Rhys enters into the nursing station, Noshiko informs with the situation. Rhys learns that the camp is all out of M&B Sulphapyridine which effectively treats the disease. Noshiko remembers seeing three boxes of the drug when she was stealing stuff but Rhys says the Doctor is claiming they only got one.

 _Rhys checked his log, but we already knew what was happening. Dr. Liston was using Merrick and_   _Michio, the boy from earlier, dies. His father is distraught._

Upon learning what happened to the life-saving medicine the inhabitants of the camp riot. They surround the Doctor's car as he is trying to leave the camp. Michio's father lights a Molotov cocktail, Satomi takes it from him and throws it. It strikes Rhys and he is burned alive. The other soldiers open fire killing dozens of people.

" _I yelled for them to stop. But so many people were sick. And so many were dying. I'd never seen anger like that. It was a living, breathing thing."_

The camp is filled with gun shots and the sound of the inmates protesting. In the midst of the chaos, Satomi appears to have turn into a werewolf and becomes so angry that she loses control and attacks the soldiers. Noshiko says bitten werewolves have a harder time maintaining control.

" _Now I knew why Satomi was always trying to keep quiet. Why she got migraines once a month, and why she was always sat the game of Go. It kept her calm. She was bitten. Bitten werewolves have a harder time suppressing their anger. One unexpected flare-up and they could lose all control."_

Satomi is attacking the soldiers in her wolf-form. In the process, Noshiko gets shot five times,  _"The gunfire nearly killed me. I don't know how many bullets made their way into my body, but I fought every one of them. It left my body so weak, my heartbeat so slow it appeared as though I was dead. But even then I was still better off than Rhys."_

In a hospital room, Rhys is screaming in pain and covered in bandages.

" _His screams could be heard throughout Eichen House, echoing through every room, every hallway. He died in agony. The doctor, it seems, had also sold the morphine. Merrick and Hayes were given the task of getting rid of all the bodies, both American and Japanese-American. They were transferring Dr. Liston out as well, stationing him somewhere else. They were covering it up. The doctor, Merrick, Hayes, and all of the others. They were gonna get away with murder. By chance, I guess, Rhys' body had been put next to mine."_

Her body is taken with the others to be burned to cover up the evidence of corruption at the camp. As she is being transported atop the pile of other bodies, she calls out to the spirits of her ancestors. She wants a Nogitsune to inhabit her body so that she can seek vengeance for all the death at the camp.

" _But calling on a trickster spirit is a dangerous thing. They can have a very dark sense of humor. Because while the Nogitsune did come to possess someone, it wasn't me."_

The Nogitsune has taken control of Rhy's dead body, it takes their truck and start to kill everyone at the camp and at Eichen House.

" _It brought chaos, strife and more pain than you can imagine."_

Noshiko confronts the spirit and attempts to kill it with her katana but she is only able to get the upper hand with the help of werewolf Satomi who attacks it from behind.

They kill the Nogitsune's host, a fly comes out of his mouth and Noshiko catches it. As he starts dying once again, Rhys manages to say "Coup de Foudre", one last time before dying.

Noshiko puts the fly into a jar and buries it under the Nemeton, which was still a full tree in 1943.

 **END**   **FLASHBACK**

"Coup de foudre." Noshiko shared as she pieced the katana together, "The literal translation is "a bolt of lightning." In French, it can also mean "love at first sight." But a bolt of lightning happens to be exactly what we need right now."

"For what?" Kira questioned.

"Excising the Nogitsune from Rhys' body shattered the katana." Noshiko explained, "But you can put it back together."

"Why don't you just do it yourself?"

"Because I'm not a thunder kitsune." She explained to her, "Do you trust me?"

"I just found out you're 900 years old." Kira reminded her, "I don't think I'm ever gonna trust you again."

"Trust me on this."

Noshiko guided Kira's hand over the sword and lightening formed from Kira's hand making the sword whole once more.

"Go ahead." Noshiko told her as Kira still looked in shock of what she had done, "It's yours now."

"What if I don't want it?"

"You need it."

Noshiko handed her the sword and suddenly Kira was able to automatic swing the word like a pro, "You see? It gives you balance." Her mother told her, "My power is yours now, Kira. If the Oni can't stop Stiles, you have to. The same as I did." She looked over at Scott, "And maybe seek out a wolf to help you."

"You didn't tell us anything." Scott told her.

"You want to save Stiles? Kill her." Noshiko told him, "I'm sure Derek has probably knows about it being the possible outcome, but that's the only way."

"You agree with this?" Scott questioned Mr. Yukimura.

"Sometimes, history does repeat itself, Scott." Mr. Yukimura told him.

"Only if you don't learn."

"But sometimes even then, fate conspires against you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed that on fanfiction.net that you had be a registered user to vote on the poll so here's the deal. Leave a comment on weither or not I should do season 4 or you could simply wait until the finale of the Nogitsune to tell me. Part 2 will be up later today! Still working on some kinks it in!


	18. The Fox and Wolf pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update guys, but here's part 2 as promise and don't forget to comment on weither or not if you want a season 4 :) Enjoy and see you tmrw!!!

Chris Argent and Derek Hale were being processed out of the Sheriff's station, but they had hit a snag, "Sorry, but I can't let you walk out with this." Deputy Parrish told him, he was talking about the electroshock prod stun weapon "It's way  _above_  the legal voltage limit.

"I only use it for hunting." Chris told him.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump-start a 747." Parrish told him in a smart aleck manner.

"This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped." Chris told him, "Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."

He looked at Derek curiously. Derek had no idea either. "I am." The Sheriff confessed as he made his way over to the desk, "I'll take care of this, Parrish."

"Sheriff, I'm not kidding." Parrish said, not even bothered by the fact the Sheriff had cleared Derek and Chris of murder charges, "This thing's a few watts from being a lightsaber."

"I said I'll take care of it." The Sheriff told him in a light a manner. Deputy Parrish simply nodded as the Sheriff allowed Chris to take back his weapon.

The Sheriff escorted both the hunter and the werewolf into his office, he showed them the results of Stiles' MRI scans, "The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit. "We can't say for sure." And then I spoke with Melissa." He pulled out another MRI scan, "These are brain scans. My wife's and Stiles'. I knew they were similar." He placed the two imagines together and they matched up perfectly,  _"Exactly_  the same."

"And I'm guessing this isn't possible?" Chris told him.

"Not even remotely."

"I would've noticed if she smelled sick." Derek told them.

"So the trickster is still playing tricks." The Sheriff concluded.

"But why this trick?" Chris questioned.

"When I was in the Army, an officer told me, "If you want to defeat your enemy, "you don't take away their courage. "You take away their hope."" The Sheriff shared with them.

"You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily." Chris offered the Sheriff.

"But Stiles might." He shared with them. This hits Derek hard, "If this thing inside her, if it's using her mother's disease as some sort of  _psychological_  trick, then this isn't just a fight for her body." The Sheriff theorized, "It's also a fight for her _mind_ , right?"

"It would make sense." Derek agreed, "That would explain why half the time she couldn't feel or hear me through the bond."

"You know, she's left people severely  _injured."_  Chris reminded both the Sheriff and Derek.

"And others severely dead." Derek said, knowing what Chris was really trying to say.

"That's why I need the two of you." The Sheriff indicated at them, "I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop her."

"And by stop her, you mean trap her." Derek stated. The Sheriff gave him a nod.

* * *

At the Argent Apartment, Allison had already placed weapons on Chris' office desk. Allison noticed the intense look that Derek had on his face, "This is everything non-lethal I could find." Allison told him with some reassurance. Derek loosened up a bit, but not completely.

"Take all of it." The Sheriff told them.

"What's the plan here?" Allison asked as they started loading up on their weapons.

"Our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen House." Chris told her, "Especially if she went through something stressful there."

"Should all four of us be going to the same place?" She questioned with some concern.

"Where else has Stiles been showing up?"

"School...the hospital."

"Okay, hold on." Derek told them, "We did this already. She disappeared. We started looking for her." He reminded them, "Then walked right into a trap at the hospital."

"She's getting us to  _repeat_  the same moves." Chris realized.

"So what do we do?" The Sheriff asked the team, "Wait for her to come to us?"

"We can't." Derek realized, "Not if the Oni find her when the sun goes down."

"Scott's working on them right now with Kira." Allison informed them.

"That's the problem." Chris spoke to them, "We're all trying to outfox the fox."

They looked at each other completely stuck in a rut. Everyone could even fill the tension filling the room. The Sheriff looked at them individually.

Chris looked like he was still having images of the past, Allison may have looked like she wasn't worried, but her body twitches told him otherwise, plus she was still a teenager. This wasn't something that normal teenagers were supposed to do. They didn't go out in the middle of night, hunting for their friend being possessed by a demon fox. And then there was Derek. The werewolf, who his daughter was soul-bonded to. Stiles hadn't given him much information on how exactly the bond worked, but he was certain that she had left some parts about it out. From what he was seeing from Derek it seemed to be hitting a critical part of it.

"Listen." The Sheriff told them snapping them out of their own reveries, "I'll understand if anyone wants to back out."

The hunters and the werewolf exchanged firm glances at each other, "I wouldn't be the first wolf to run from a fox." Derek told him with confidence.

"Apparently I'm carrying the lightsaber." Chris shared with them, taking hold of the electroshock prod stun weapon.

"Sheriff, you and Derek head to Eichen House." Allison directed them, "Dad, it's you and me in the hospital." Allison told them.

"We all meet in the school." Chris concluded as he grabbed two fully loaded semi-automatic pistols off the table.

Derek immediately took noticed, "Making sure you have a few _lethal_ options just in case?"

"I like to prepare for the worst." That didn't make Derek feel any better about the situation.

* * *

In a hospital elevator, Allison made a shaky breathing sound, "You know what, I don't know how you guys do it." She told her dad. Chris turned to her with a questioning look, "You're all so strong." She told him.

"You're fearless." Chris told her as he pulled her into his arms, "Hell, you even manage to keep your grades up."

"I am failing Econ." Allison told him. Chris made a sighing noise, not of disappointment, but of something that he could actually believe. He heard rumors about Finstock's weird teaching ways.

"Is that Coach's class?" Allison gave him a nod, "Well, I'll have a talk with him." He assured her.

It was another moment, before Allison lets out a breaking out breath. Chris pushed the red elevator button and it comes to a halt.

"You okay?"

"I'm not... Fearless." Allison told him, tearing up, "I'm _terrified_." She confessed to her father. That's when Allison broke down completely, "I'm  _always_  terrified." She confessed to her father, looking at the ground, "I... I act like I know what I'm doing, but I don't." She breathed out heavily, "I don't know if Isaac is dying right now. I don't know if we can actually save Stiles. I don't know what you're thinking. I don't know if we should trust Derek. I don't know..." She told him, looking at this time, "I don't know anything." She sniffed.

"I'll tell you what I'm thinking," Chris told her lightly, "I'm thinking that I couldn't be more proud of my daughter than I already am now."

"Why?" Allison asked him, "I'm a crying mess and I'm supposed to be the leader of this family."

"Allison you have endured a lot of things in such a short amount of time when I was your age," Chris shared with her, "Nearly six months ago, you have been thrown into a world filled with werewolves, kanimas, and darachs. You have shown the ability to think things through rationally and was able to prioritize along the way."

"And it all the situations I came out on the bottom." Allison pointed out to him.

Chris shook his head at her, "No you didn't." He told her, earning him a confused look, "You have survived the death of two loved ones. You have survived when Peter had gone after our family, even as rookie. You have survived, working with Gerard and that's something not everyone that I encountered with him can say."

"Pretty much handed Jackson over to Gerard though."

"But you learned from your mistakes," Chris reminded her, "No one is expecting you to be perfect. He caught you at a weak moment, but Allison I've seen you do courageous and strong things when you band with your friends and work with them. You sacrificed your life for mine and you have changed the way we've operated things. You have done a lot of great things. Isaac isn't the only survivor of the pack. All of you are. He will pull through this and we'll find a way to save Stiles."

"Thanks Dad." Allison said to him and hugged him tightly.

"You're gonna be okay." Chris told her, hugging her back.

"Okay."

"And one more thing," Chris said placing a kiss on her forehead, "Your mother would be so proud of you."

* * *

Meanwhile at Eichen House, the Sheriff and Derek were in the room that Stiles had stayed in her first night. "Are you getting anything?" The Sheriff asked him.

"Just the smell of restlessness," Derek told him eyeing the room, "Almost as if she couldn't sleep."

"That's my fault," the Sheriff shared with him, "On the night we brought her in. I forgot her pillow. She can't sleep without it."

Derek simply nodded at the statement because he was almost certain that Stiles had failed to mention that she had stayed over with him. Probably would get him shot, if he opened his mouth. It's not like he was scared of the Sheriff, it was more of what he wasn't exactly sure how to handle the situation. He could smell the fear and anxiety coated all over the Sheriff, but there was also that scent of hope and Derek tried really hard to hone in on it.

"How are you holding up?" The Sheriff suddenly asked him. Derek gave him a surprised look, "I know you know how I'm feeling."

"I feel at a lost. I'm highly  _agitated,"_  Derek said softly, "I should've known something was wrong the first time her scent changed on me. It's my fault. A mate should know when the other is in trouble. I spent a whole day with her and I still didn't even notice anything wrong until later."

"It's not your fault." The Sheriff told him, "She was probably busy worrying about me rather than asking for help." the Sheriff rubbed his hands together, "I lost my wife already. I'm not losing my daughter next."

"We aren't going to lose her." Derek agreed with him, "You and I  _can't_  lose her."

"Do you love her, Derek?" At the question, Derek's body completely had stiffen and the Sheriff made a small smile, "I'm not going to shoot you."

"I do."

"That's all that I can ask of you," The Sheriff told him, "Did she say it first?"

"Yeah," Derek told him, "On the night of the lunar eclipse. When Kali was coming after me. I don't think she meant to say it on the account that she threatened me in the process."

The Sheriff laughed, "Sounds exactly like something Stiles would do. Exactly like her mom." He shared with him, "It was probably a couple of months after I met Claudia, when she said it first. We had stuck on the Ferris wheel, during one of our dates and Claudia had been deathly afraid of heights. I still wondered why she even got on in the first place." The Sheriff smiled at the memory, "Anyway, the mechanic of the carnival was working on it and every now and then, our cart would jerk a bit."

"It scared her senseless," He said, "So I told her to hold onto me and close her eyes. She did exactly that the entire time. When we finally got down, she held onto me even tighter. I had asked if she was still shaken up by the entire ordeal and asked if she wanted to go home. The answer I got was 'No, I was just thinking if I had died up there. I never would've gotten the chance to tell the man that I love, that I love him.' In that moment I knew she was the one for me."

"I haven't told Stiles yet." Derek confessed to him, "Even after Melissa found her that night. The night she disappeared."

"Let me tell you something Derek," The Sheriff told him, "With Stiles you don't have to tell her those kind of things. It's your actions that she takes account for and from what I've seen with the way she talks about you and how you interacted with her at the hospital...I can see it."

"She did say my actions speak louder than my words."

"Well, if that's true she already knows it." He said with a sigh, "I may not understand your bond you have with her, but she's right. Your actions do speak a lot louder."

The Sheriff's phone buzzed, "What's that?"

"Someone's breaking into my house." The Sheriff explained to him, "After Stiles started sleepwalking, I had some security precautions put in. Motion sensors. Cameras."

When the Sheriff finally pulled up an image, Stiles was sitting on a bed looking directly at the camera. She had smirk on the camera and waved directly at it.

"That's her room." Derek told him.

* * *

When Argent, Allison, Derek, and the Sheriff made it to the Stilinski house, Stiles was already gone, but the Sheriff noticed that her chessboard had been rearranged. "What is all this?" Derek asked, "What are these sticky notes for?" He picked up a piece that was labeled "Isaac" that had been taken off the board.

"This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about all of you." The Sheriff explained to them.

"So, maybe it's a message from Stiles." Allison suggested, "The  _real_  Stiles."

"You think there's a reason my name's on the king?" Derek questioned the Sheriff, looking at his piece of the board. "And a reason why her ring is surrounding it."

"You were the king, the first time she explained you to me. At first I thought it was because you were the Alpha, but now I see it's because of what you and her have together." He explained, "However, you're heavily guarded." He indicated at two other pawns that have been surrounding Derek's chess piece. Derek's piece had been surrounded by Ethan, Aiden, and Peter's pieces. "Though I guess the  _alarming_  detail is that you're one move from being in _checkmate_." The only piece close enough to actually put Derek's piece in checkmate was Allison's piece.

"It's not a message from Stiles." Chris realized looking at the pieces, "It's a  _threat_  from the Nogitsune." He looked over at Derek, "Is that ring anything significant?"

"It's a promise I made to her." Derek shared with them, "It's also what keeps the link opened between us."

"I wonder if it's almost like she's trying to protect you." Chris offered, "It's almost like a-"

"Barrier," Allison told him, "It's one of the ways that Stiles' is able to use her spark as a defense mechanism."

"I assume this spark is like another supernatural thing, right?" They all looked at him with some alarm, "Stiles explained some of it to me though I really don't understand it, but from what I could understand it's _only_ used when you guys are in trouble."

"That's what Deaton told her."

"If the foxfire was used to jump start the Nogitsune's power," the Sheriff wondered, "Couldn't it also have unlock Stiles' ability to use it willingly?"

"It would make sense," Chris agreed, "But it could also spell disaster for us. We need to figure out where she is."

While the Argents and the Sheriff were trying to figure out where Stiles could be Derek stood silently looking at the board. He went back to the night she had disappeared and remembered they had found her near the burned down Hale house, his former home. When Stiles was in her daze she appeared into his loft. Almost as if she was trying to find safety. Like she was trying to find him.

"The loft." Derek found himself saying. That's when it suddenly made sense.

"What?"

"That's where she is. Every time when she wasn't herself with me she stayed, she didn't go anywhere. But other times she would just appear." He explained to them, "I think the Nogitsune knows that too. It may even consider me a threat. I kept bringing her back with a touch, maybe I can do it again."

"That couldn't sound any more like a trap." Chris told him. "Especially if it has the ability to use the spark to kill us."

"I don't think it will." The Sheriff shared with them.

"I think your opinion might be slightly  _biased,_  Sheriff." Chris said to him lightly.

"Hear me out." The Sheriff told him, "If it knows about Stiles' spark, it would've used on it us about now. Hell, we would probably be dead right now. But it's choosing not to." He explained to them, "What we're dealing with here is basically someone who lacks motive. No rhyme, no reason, right?"

"Meaning what?" Allison asked.

"Our enemy is not a killer." He concluded, "It's a  _trickster_. The killing is just a by-product."

"If you're trying to say it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confident about that." Chris shared with him.

"It won't. It wants irony." He said with confidence, "It wants to play a trick. It wants a joke." He explained to them, "All we need to do is come up with a new punch line."

"The sun is setting, Sheriff." Chris told him, indicating the lack of time they had, "What do you have in mind?"

* * *

At the school, "There's a way to save her." Scott told them, "There has to be." Scott received a text from Allison to meet the others at Derek's Loft. Scott and Kira both left with the sword.

Mr. Yukimura looked at his wife with a worried look, "I'll take it somewhere safe." Noshiko told him indicating her last dagger.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Mr. Yukimura told her, "History has not done well with making children into killers."

"These children  _played_  their part in it long before we came back to Beacon Hills." Noshiko told him, "I buried the jar  _deep_  within the roots of the Nemeton."

_Noshiko Yukimura runs through the Beacon Hills Preserve and comes across the Nemeton when it's still a full tree._

"It was their sacrifice that  _brought_  its power back."

_On the night of the lunar eclipse Stiles, Scott and Allison emerge into their metal filled tubs with their tethers pushing them under._

"They let the demon out of its cage."

_The ground around the Nemeton begins to cave in and a fly emerges from the broken ground._

* * *

When the Sheriff and Derek arrived to the loft, they came across Stiles with her back towards them, facing the outside. Almost as if she was waiting on them. She turned to face them, "Hey Dad…Derek."


	19. De-Void pt.1

Sheriff Stilinski walked ahead inside the loft face to face with Stiles. He lets a pair of handcuffs fall into view changing Stiles' blank expression to a surprise one. "You want to  _handcuff_  me?" She asked him in a soft tone. "Both of you?"

Derek gave her a nod (he couldn't find himself to say anything) as the Sheriff spoke, "If my daughter is still here, if there's still a part of her standing here in front of me, then she'll put these on  _willingly_ ," He slowly explained walking towards her, "And she'll come with us, because she knows we're here to protect her from herself and from others." Stiles held out her wrist in a sign of defeat.

Once, the Sheriff managed to click the handcuffs in place he sees that Stiles' defeated expression turns into something else completely different, "You're not my daughter." He realized. Stiles gave him a slow shake of the head just as she snapped apart the handcuffs easily. In that moment both Allison and Chris entered the loft.

Stiles gave them a smirk, "Oh look…it's a party." As they all stood in front of her.

Allison, Chris, Derek and the Sheriff surrounded Stiles as she watched them with a steady glance, but the smirk didn't falter. When Allison met Stiles' eyes she pulled out a tazer and shot it, but Stiles caught it in mid-air between the wires with a head shake and pulled the wires easily disarming Allison by throwing the gun against the wall.

"Oh Allikin," She said with some slight disappointment, "You're going to have to do  _better_  than that." She informed her simply, "But it's nice to see that you got your aim back. Stiles was really worried about that." Allison's face didn't falter at the statement. On the other side of Stiles, Derek made a growling sound.

Stiles turned to him giving him her full attention, "Aw, is the big bad wolf mad because he wants his mate back?" She asked in a taunting tone. "Or is it because she never did tell you that she was getting worse? I have her  _memories_  you know." It continued to stare at him, but Derek knew it was just trying to get a rise out of him. "My favorite one is when you had her against the wall with your hand on her neck. My you seemed quite pissed. Even left a  _lovely_  bruise on her neck." Stiles laughed, "By the look on your face I can see that she didn't even tell you. Want to know something else?" Stiles took a step closer to him, "She cried out for you, you know."

Derek didn't even realize that he made a facial expression, "Shut up." Derek gritted. It was getting to him, he could feel it.

"How about you come and stop me?" Stiles challenged him, "And maybe I'll let her go. Try and see if you can protect your mate for  _once,_ just like you promised her." She sneered at him. Without a second thought Derek launched himself at Stiles. Completely, unafraid by the upcoming assault Stiles side-stepped Derek easily, catching him off guard, grabbed him by the arm and bent it back and threw Derek against the wall effortlessly. Derek easily fell to the ground upon impact on the wall.

Derek looked up at her, there wasn’t a darkening in her eyes as there would’ve been if she had gone into survival mode. No her eyes remained the same. Meaning Stiles had possessed the Nogitsune’s superhuman ability.

"Sorry wolfie, but your little touch isn't going to work this time." She grinned at him, getting closer to him, "You know she begged me not to hurt you or anyone of you for that matter. And of course I told her I wouldn't if she let me take complete control." She knelled to the floor to him, "But I think we all know it was another trick." She whispered to him. When Stiles to reach to touch Derek once more, she was hit by a force field that surrounded Derek. It shocked not only Derek, but the Nogitsune/Stiles as well.

"Damn it." She stated. Stiles quickly backed away from him, "I should've known."

Derek got up from the ground, "You may have  _possession_  over her body," Derek told her, "But Stiles' managed to stay one-step ahead of you."

"That maybe," Stiles told him, switching her attention towards Chris, "But that really doesn't change anything does it Argent?"

Derek turned to see what exactly Stiles was talking about and sees that Chris had a gun pointed her. Right at his mate, but before Derek could say or do anything it's the Sheriff that made the first move by pulling out his gun towards Chris.

"Argent, listen to me." He tried to reason with the man, "Don't do this."

"Why not? I've done it  _before_." Chris explained to the Sheriff, "Werewolves, Berserkers. I can easily add a Nogitsune to the  _list_."

"You're not going to shoot my daughter." The Sheriff commanded him, but Chris still didn't make a move to remove his gun trained on Stiles.

"You said it yourself, Sheriff." Chris says, "That's not your daughter."

"Put it down."

Stiles easily feigned distress, "Dad, he's going to shoot me."

Stiles then turned to Derek, "He's going to kill me, Derek. Do you want that? Do you want me  _dead_?" That struck a chord right inside Derek, but he shook it off as he reminded himself that it was just another trick.

Stiles turned back to Chris with a wicked expression, "Pull the trigger." She pressed without hesitation, "Come on."

"Listen to me, you put the gun down now!" The Sheriff ordered.

"Shoot me." She sneered as Chris still had his gun pointed at her.

"Put the gun down now!"

"Dad." Allison tried to her father.

"Shoot me!"

"Put the gun down!"

Seeing the scene before her Allison slowly realized something, "Strife." She whispered and caught Derek looking at her. They began to think the same thing.

"Put it down! Put it down!"

"Stop, stop it!" Allison shouted at them, "This is what she  _wants_. This is  _exactly_  what she wants."

Stiles smiled at the statement, "Not exactly. I was kind of hoping Scott would be here. But I'm glad you all have your guns out." She shared with them and faced the big window just as the sun finished setting all the way. "Because you're not here to kill me." The Oni manifested and phase through the loft's large main window, "You're here to  _protect_  me." She shared with them just as the hunters, Derek, and the Sheriff boxed her in.

Both the Sheriff and Argent started shooting, but Argent found his gun wouldn't fire, he automatically dropped it and drew another. The Sheriff continued shooting at the demons. From behind Stiles, two more Oni appeared as Allison armed herself with her Chinese ring daggers while Derek shifted.

Scott and Kira arrived to the loft in time to hear gunfire from the loft, but once they get inside the actual loft only the Sheriff, the Argents, and Derek remained. They appeared to be out of breath. "What happened?" He asked taking in the scene and rushing to Allison's side.

"They disappeared." Allison informed him.

"They  _literally_  just vanished." Chris remarked.

"And so did Stiles." Derek managed to say, "In a black smoke."

* * *

Noshiko Yukimura entered the basement at Eichen House and made her way to the wall where the body of Corporal Rhys was still entombed. She was holding onto her dagger.

"Why that kanji?" Stiles asked appearing from behind her, **"** Why "self"?"

She doesn't turn to face Stiles, "To signify that he died as himself. Because Rhys wasn't a  _monster_." She then turned to her, "Not like you."

"If I'm such a monster, why'd you call off the Oni?" Stiles countered, "What happened to the woman who called out for chaos, strife and pain to descend upon everyone and everything? What happened?"

"I don't want that anymore."

"I do." Stiles admitted and suddenly pushed her to the floor and managed to grab a hold of the last dagger, "Did you bring this here thinking you could hide it from me?" Holding it up away from Noshiko, "Bad idea." And Stiles used the last "tail" and stabbed herself in the stomach.

Stiles easily fell to the ground with heavy breathing, "What have you done?" Noshiko questioned in fear.

"Chaos is come again." Stiles claimed. A swarm of flies came boiling out from the wound, briefly surround Noshiko. When the flies disappeared, so did Stiles.

At the hospital, one of the flies buzzed through the hallway. It flew over Melissa McCall, who was carrying a file down the hall. She placed it in one of the holders attached to the wall and the fly landed on it. The file belonged to Isaac Lahey.

The fly took the air once more and went into Isaac's room. His electrical burns have healed, but he still remained unconscious. The fly landed near the cannula and trocar needle that was delivering intravenous fluids into Isaac's arm. The bug crawled between the pieces of tape holding the gear in place and entered Isaac's body. His eyes opened and flashed the golden yellow.

* * *

Kira and Scott arrived at the McCall residence, "Thanks for letting me stay." Kira told him, "I just didn't want to go home yet. I feel like I don't even know them anymore." Scott knew she was talking about her parents.

"I can loan you a T-shirt if you want." He offered, "I still have one of Stiles' old shirts for when she would stay over."

"I'm okay."

"Take the bed." Scott told her, "I'll sleep in the chair." Kira laid down on the bed as Scott took the chair. There was a moment of silence that fell over them.

"Scott, I'm sorry about what's happening with Stiles."

"It's not your fault."

"I know," Kira said. "It's just...She was the first person to call me her friend since I got here." She told him, "Just like you were the first to remember my name."

"We're going to save her." Scott said offhandedly, "We'll figure it out."

Another fly tried to attempt to get inside Scott's room, but it encountered a closed window.

* * *

Allison and Chris had returned home as well. Both were a bit defeated by the night's outcome, but Allison had this one question that had been nagging her in the back of her head, "Dad."

"Hmm?"

"Were you really gonna pull the trigger on Stiles?" She asked in a soft voice.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." He admitted to her.

"I'll check the firing pin." She told him randomly.

"You removed it?" Chris asked in a minor shock.

"Yeah."

"That's why the women are the leaders in our family." He told her with a smile, before heading off into his room. "Get some sleep, sweetheart."

When Allison walked to her room, she found an unexpected visitor in her room, "What are you doing here?"

"Scott sent me." Isaac told her. Allison noticed how distance and distracted he was acting.

"You didn't just walk out of the hospital, did you?" She questioned as she sat on her bed. "I know Scott's worried about Stiles, but I also know that he doesn't want anyone else to get hurt."

"It's okay. I feel a lot better." He told her, "All healed."

"Giving you guys the alarm code was probably a bad idea."

"Maybe."

* * *

Back at the loft, Derek was setting up a chess board, "What are you doing?" Peter questioned him, "And more importantly, why aren't you healing?" He noticed that gash on Derek's shoulder.

"It's from one of their swords." Derek told him as he began placing pieces onto the board, "It'll heal."

"By playing chess?"

"Back in her room, Stiles had a board with my name on one of the pieces." Derek explained, "If this is a game to her, then I need to figure out the plays."

"Not so easy to do when it's a game without rules." Peter said thoughtfully.

"What does that mean?"

"You're dealing with the kind of spirit that's lived too long to play by human rules. It's a fox spirit that chose to become human and not just any human. It chose  _your_  mate," Peter explained, "It could be a coincidence, but possessing someone something they can do only after about 100 years. If a kitsune is an  _annoying_  pain in the ass, then a Nogitsune, which is a dark kitsune, is a  _freaking_  disaster."

Peter looked down at the board Derek had set up, "Besides, chess is Stiles' game." Peter told him, "It's not the game of a Japanese fox." He pointed at the wound, "Do yourself a favor and put something on that. Before it gets infected."

"She's in there somewhere," Derek told him in a hard voice, "I'm not giving up until I've done everything I can."

A fly entered the loft, landing on Derek's wound and crawled inside him.

* * *

The next morning, Ethan and Danny had been playing lacrosse at the school. They had been at it for a couple of hours, but now they were throwing in the towel, "I gotta say, you definitely did well out there." Danny praised him, "You'll definitely make the team next spring." However, Danny noticed a look on Ethan's face. "I mean, if you want to."

"I want to." Ethan admitted.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I mean...I kind of don't know if this is the place for me." Ethan explained to him, "For us."

As Ethan scooped up water to splash on his sweaty face, a fly lands in his cupped hands and was carried along with the water, "I mean, is this you leaving school again?" Danny asked him seeing the uncertainty, "Is it about your brother?"

"Yeah." Ethan confessed as he thought about it. "It is, actually." Ethan's demeanor suddenly changed. "It's  _always_  about my brother, isn't it?" Ethan asked with a bitter tone.

"You all right?"

"I think I'm just going to take a shower." Ethan shared not even answering Danny's question.

"Okay."

"So are you." Ethan removed Danny's shirt and started pulling him to the showers.

"Okay." Danny expressed more than happy with the situation.

* * *

Aiden was riding in Landon's car. Landon was using his new GPS system, "Turn right onto Lincoln Road and continue for half a mile."

Landon did as instructed, but it's Aiden who started to get a bit antsy in the passenger seat. With a bored sigh he finally asked, "You at least going to tell me where we're going?"

"I need to get something," Landon told him just as the GPS told him, "Turn right onto Harmon Street and stay right..."

"Well, I'm actually a little worried we're totally lost." Aiden confessed him.

"Why do you think that?"

"'Cause you just made your _fourth_ right." Aiden pointed out him, "And four rights make a circle."

"I did not. Did I?" Landon questioned him with some uncertainty, "It's a brand-new car. The GPS was fine before."

"Maybe the GPS would work better if it was  _on."_  Aiden indicated at the system. Landon looked and sees that Aiden was right. The GPS system was off, which suddenly started not to sit well with him. "Landon. You okay?" Aiden asked sensing the distress.

"I need to stop." Landon panicked, "I need to pull over right now."

Landon pulled into a random lot still in panic mode at full speed, "Landon, stop!" Aiden yelled at him just as Landon was close to hitting someone that was laying on in the lot. Landon hit the breaks hard and they both see Stiles on the ground unconscious.

Landon quickly got out his car as Aiden followed suit. As they approach Stiles, a fly landed on Aiden's ear and entered the canal.

* * *

Allison woke up to Isaac standing with his back to her in front of her large wall mirror. He was going through her bag of weapons. He questioned her having them saying that he thought the new code was about protecting people.

"Most of them are non-lethal." Allison explained to him.

"This looks pretty lethal to me." Isaac shared holding up her Chinese daggers, "But maybe you should keep them." He told her still shuffling through the bag, "There's still a few of us out there who aren't quite so non-lethal. Like the twins."

"I thought we were going to give them a second chance." Allison stated at him.

"They don't deserve it."

"Things are different now." She shared, "It doesn't have to be like that anymore."

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that." Isaac told her as he took the bag and left the room.

Allison tried to follow, but discovered that Isaac had chained to her to bed, "Isaac, wait!" As she struggled with it, "Isaac!"

* * *

Aiden and Scott carried an unconscious Stiles into the McCall living room and placed her on the couch. Deaton, Melissa and Landon followed behind. "Guys, this is crazy." Melissa told them, "She needs to be in the hospital."

"Mom, remember what happened last time she went to the hospital?" Scott reminded her, "Has anyone contacted Derek?"

"I tried, but he's not answering." Landon told him.

"It doesn't look like she's bleeding." Deaton announced to as he had inspected Stiles' stomach wound, "I think she might even be _healing_."

"You mean healing like we heal?" Scott asked with some hope. But he noticed that Deaton had an unsure facial expression, "That's good, right?"

"For her, yes." Deaton told him, before standing back up, "Us? I'm not so sure."

Melissa called the Sheriff to tell him what's happened, but her ex-husband declined the call before the Stilinski could answer, "You've got some priorities to attend to, Sheriff." Agent McCall told him.

"McCall, trust me when I tell you, you don't have a clue about my current priorities." The Sheriff told him as he was ready to leave the station.

"You don't show up to this preliminary hearing, you'll be out of a job." Agent McCall reminded him as the Sheriff grabbed his badge and gun, "Why are you bringing those?"

"In case I'm turning them in."

Everyone was still wondering what to do with the unconscious Stiles, "Well, if we're not going to kill her," Aiden told them, "Why aren't we at least tying her down with really big chains?"

"I might have something more _effective_." Deaton told them, he produced a bottle of liquid from his doctor's bag. "Open her mouth."

As Scott and Aiden held Stiles' mouth open, Deaton placed a few drops of the liquid on the tongue. Stiles woke up with a start and grabbed Aiden around the throat. There was a mischievous smile on her face. "Get her off me!" Aiden growled, but it was unnecessary as Stiles' grip around his throat loosened.

"Kanima venom." Stiles realized as her grip fell completely, "Nice touch." She commented as her entire body got effected by the venom. Aiden ended up roaring at her as Scott pushed him back away, but Stiles doesn't deter at all.

"You know how they say that twins get a  _feeling_  when the other one's in pain?" She asked eyeing Aiden specifically, "You didn't lose that talent, too, did you?" She asked with a quirk, "Oh, I hope not. You're going to need it." Both Aiden and Scott gave her a confused look, which Stiles simply rolled her eyes, "Okay, I'll give a little hint." There was that mischievous smirk again, "Ethan's at the school."

"Go." Scott told Aiden.

Stiles lets out a sinister laugh, "Oh, I hope he gets there in time. I like the twins. Short tempers. _Homicidal_ compulsions." She lamented, "They're a lot more  _fun_  than you bakemono trying to save the world every day."

"Doc, you brought something to paralyze her body." Melissa said, "You got anything for her mouth?"

"Yes, I do." The doctor placed black gaffers tape over Stiles mouth, who at first started shouting through the tape, before laughing.

* * *

The Sheriff sat in front of panel of three people, "As a reminder, Sheriff, we're just here to talk." The leader reminded him, "We want to review both the successes and the failures."

In front of the desk there were two piles. One was about three times the size of the other.

"Which pile is which?" The Sheriff asked and got a deterred look from the leader, "Sorry I asked."

* * *

Back at the McCall residence, "How much longer do you think we have?" Scott asked Deaton. Stiles was still paralyzed, but he knew it was only a matter of time before the venom stopped working.

"I wish I knew."

"But if we don't figure out something soon, we're going to need to find a better place to keep her." Scott told him, "I'm also starting to worry about Derek as well. At the loft, he looked defeated, almost as if his world is crashing around him."

"In a sense it is for him," Deaton told him, "His mate is possessed and so far we haven't found an absolute way to have her, but honestly that's not what worries me right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I think we're grossly  _under_ estimating the danger here." Deaton admitted, "She might be paralyzed, but it still feels like she's got us right in the palm of her hand."

They looked over at the paralyzed Stiles with some worry.

* * *

Allison called her father saying she thinks Isaac is heading toward the School and she's following him, "I'm on my way." Chris told her as they hung up, but as he opens the door he found Derek standing outside the door, "Derek, you all right?"

"I need to show you something." Derek said cryptically as he walked his way into the apartment. Chris followed him all the way into his study, where Derek threw down Talia's claws onto the Argent desk.

"Do you know who these belonged to?" Derek asked him, but Chris doesn't get a chance to answer to him, "These claws are all that was left of my mother after your psychotic sister _burned_ her and the rest of my family _alive_." Derek said in full in anger just before he attacked Argent.

* * *

At the McCall's, Melissa was tending to Stiles' wound. Her mouth was still taped, but she made a sniffling sound and a tear falls down her face. "Stiles." Melissa said and Stiles gave her a small nod with a sad expression, but that changed when Melissa removed the tape and Nogitsune/Stiles shook her head.

"Really, Melissa? I shed one tear?" She questioned with some disappointment, "That's all it takes? Come on. You can't  _crumble_  that easily. How are you going to hold up when Scott knows the _truth_?"

"What?" Melissa asked off guard.

"When he finds out why his dad really left." Stiles told her knowing, "You know she overheard it, right? You had no idea. You called Stilinski right after it happened." She confessed, "You didn't tell Scott, but you told the Sheriff, but Stiles heard it like she hears  _everything_." This time Stiles' voice dropped into a whisper, "But you want to know why she never told Scott? Because she knew that Scott would  _never_  forgive you. She knew how much Scott would  _hate_  you."

"This isn't you, Stiles." Melissa told her.

"It is now." Stiles replied with a break in her tone.

Melissa returned the tape to Stiles' mouth.

* * *

The chairman of the panel at the preliminary hearing addresses the Sheriff, "Is there anything that you would like to say on your own behalf, Mr. Stilinski?"

"As far as I know, it's still Sheriff until you relieve me of this position." He pointed out to them in an agitated tone, "And if you do decide to relieve me of said position, then get to deciding." He told them as he got up from his seat and headed to the door, "Because this whole hearing crap is a waste of time."

Before the Sheriff even has a chance of leaving the room Agent McCall stepped in, "I have a few words of my own." He told the committee.

"Fantastic." The Sheriff grunted.

"Let me make this as short and succinct as possible."

* * *

Back at the McCall's, Landon, Scott and Deaton were brainstorming. "But the scroll said to change her body." Landon pointed out.

"That's  _if_  I translated it correctly." Deaton said pointedly. "We're looking for a cure in something that might actually be nothing more than a proverb or a metaphor."

"And what if she doesn't want it?" Scott asked, "She's  _never_  asked to be a werewolf."

"What if it  _saves_  her life?" Landon questioned.

"What if it  _kills_  her?" Scott shot back with some hesitation, "I've never done this before." He looked over at Stiles with some worry, "I mean, what if I bite her and accidentally hit an artery or something?"

"The venom is not going to last long." Deaton informed them, "Something  _needs_  to be done sooner than later."

"I can try calling Derek again." Scott offered.

Landon shook his head, "You said so yourself, that Derek doesn't appear to be in a good place right now." He told Scott. He thought of one person that could possibly help. His last resort, "I think there might be someone else could help."

* * *

When Peter Hale had arrived at the door, Scott was quickly against it, "No way!" Scott declared before making an attempt to slam the door in Peter's face. Just like last time Peter caught it without trouble.

"Really Scott?" He asked unamused, but made his way inside.

"Have you forgotten he tried to kill all of us at some point?" Scott whispered at Landon.

"Believe me, I don't like this plan as much as you do," Landon told me, "But Talia told me that me he knew there was a possible way to save Stiles." In the beginning Scott would've questioned how much Landon could depend on his abilities, but now he was just focused on saving his friend. Desperate times, call for desperate measures.

"So that's what she told you," Peter said while was examining Stiles, "She doesn't look like she would survive a slap across the face," Peter concluded as he knelled down in front of Stiles, who was giving him a glare. "Much less the bite of a werewolf."

"You don't think it would work?" Scott questioned.

"This is more a war of the  _mind_  than the body." Peter explained to them, "There are better methods to winning this battle."

"What kind of methods?" Landon questioned on guard.

"We're going to get into her head."


	20. De-Void pt.2

Danny and Ethan had finished their shower time, "So, can I tell Coach you're trying out for the team?" Danny asked with a pleased smile.

"I'll think about it." Ethan confessed to him.

"Sounds like a yes to me." Danny told him, before kissing Ethan once more and leaving the school.

Ethan then turned his attention to a shadowed corner in the hall, "What?" he snarled at the person.

"Trying out for the team?" Aiden questioned stepping out of the shadows.

"Why not?" Ethan questioned back.

"You have no idea what's going on right now, do you?"

"Why should I care?" Ethan said following his arms across his chest, "Scott's never going to trust us anyway." Ethan reminded him, "You see the way he looks at us? Like dogs that bit the neighbor. One more little incident and he's either going to let us go or put us down." Ethan summed up in an angry tone.

"I'm starting to think the same thing about you." Aiden threatened in a low tone.

"See?" Ethan told him, "That's what I'm talking about." Ethan pointed out as they both started to circle each other. "I'd probably be in his pack by now if it wasn't for my _psychotic_ brother." Ethan shot at him, "The one who has to kill everything in sight."

"Careful, Ethan." Aiden growled at him while flashing his claws, "You're currently the only thing in my sight."

Just as they were about to come to blows, Isaac appeared and shot them with a super taser dart fired from a shot gun. "I guess this is the part where I say something witty." Isaac said casually as he walked over to the ambushed twins. He knocked them both unconscious with the butt of the shot gun.

"I'm not witty." Isaac stood over the unconscious twins in a heavy breath.

* * *

"Are you sure that is such a good idea?" Melissa questioned with some concern.

"It may be the best chance we have right now." Deaton reasoned.

"Scott is going to try and dig through pale and sickly Evil Stiles' mind to unearth pale and sickly Real Stiles." Peter explained once more, "Then guide her back from the depths of her own subconscious." Peter looked over at Scott, leaning over one of the dining chair, "But he's not going to do it alone."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"Somebody needs to go in with you."

* * *

Isaac already had a Molotov cocktail ready with a handkerchief hanging out on the end. Isaac was shuffling through Finstock's office, "Come on, Coach, you gotta have a lighter." He mumbled, "Stiles may have killed Kali, but I'm gonna burn it down." He finally grabbed hold of a lighter and grabbed the bottle, "For Erica, For Boyd. For everyone."

He lit up the end of a handkerchief and took the liquor-filled bottle out to the hall, but was surprised when the flaming cloth got ripped away by a katana. Kira was waiting in the hall with sword drawn. "Nice sword." He growled flashing his fangs at her.

"Isaac." Kira responded completely unfazed. He dropped the bottle and started advancing on Kira. Allison attacked from behind hitting him in the head with her crossbow. The twins, now recovered, rise and attack Isaac while Kira and Allison locked themselves in Coach's office.

"Any chance Stiles put a barrier on us to prevent them from attacking us as well?" Kira questioned.

"I wouldn't chance it." Allison admitted.

"Was this a good idea?" Kira asked in a shaking tone as they both watched the werewolves attack each other.

"Probably not." Allison admitted, readying herself with her bow.

"They're not going to kill each other, are they?" Isaac then threw one of the twins the window of the Coach's door.

Allison and Kira quickly moved into the locker room. "I think they're going to try." Both of the girls waited with their weapons ready.

* * *

"So what do we do if we find her?" Scott questioned looking down at the tied up Stiles. From underneath the tape he could tell Stiles was wearing a smug look.

"You're going to have to guide her out somehow." Peter explained to him, "Try to give her back control of her mind, her body." Peter was also looking at Stiles, when she caught sight of him staring she gave him a sinister glare.

"Could you elaborate on the "somehow"?" Landon questioned him. He noticed the body language in Stiles changing.

"It's not feeling very specific at the moment." Peter admitted. Stiles made a huge body jerking movement on the couch.

"What if this is just  _another_  trick?" Scott questioned.

Peter was more than offended by the question, "When are you people going to start trusting me?”

"I meant her." Scott told him tilting his head over in Stiles' direction. This time Stiles made another body movement causing her to be able to move a bit off the couch.

"Scott, we're running out of time." Deaton told him.

Scott knew what they had to do. Landon sat on the couch next to the Stiles while Scott stood behind them. Peter knelled in front of Landon and gave him a nod as Scott took a deep breath and plunged his claws into both Landon and Stiles' neck causing all three of them to go unconscious.

* * *

At the Argent Apartment, Chris was still dealing with his own werewolf problem. Somehow in the midst of first attack Derek had managed to unarm Chris and knock him unconscious. Chris woke-up finding himself tied to a chair in the middle of study.

Derek was standing in front of him holding a red container that had a label 'gasoline' written on it. "Derek." Chris tried in a calm voice, but Derek opened up the container and started to pour the gas on him, "Listen to me. Whatever's gotten into your head, this isn't the way to deal with it."

But the Derek in front of him didn't seem convinced, "You burn my family, I burn yours." Derek told him with a crazed tone, "In fact, I'll burn the whole building down around you."

Chris attempted to struggle out of the chair, but it was no use. The rope Derek had used were tied tightly. "That was Kate. You know I had nothing to do with that." Chris reminded him, "I'm not your enemy, Derek. Not anymore."

"Yeah, you are." Derek said with a wild smile, "You and Allison. Which is why, I'm not gonna light this yet. I'm not. We're going to wait until she gets home."

Derek flicked on the zippo and held very close to Chris' face. Chris immediately moved his face away from the flame before blowing it out. This caused Derek to take a rough hold of his face. "And we're going to let her watch." Derek told him in a menacing tone.

* * *

At the Sheriff's office, "You just saved my job." The Sheriff told Agent McCall.

"Probably." He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"Why?"

"Two reasons. One, I don't think Sherlock Holmes could figure out half the bizarre crap happening in this town." Agent McCall admitted to him, "I mean, this place is  _literally_  the Bermuda Triangle of homicides, disappearances, and strange occurrences."

"I can't argue that." Sheriff breathed out, "What's number two?"

"Kicking you out of a job is not why I came back here. It was an excuse to stay."

"You stalled the impeachment."

"That's right."

"Because you want to talk to Scott." "That's right."

"You did me a huge favor today. Let me do you a small one. Tell him." He told the Agent, "The next time you see him, just tell him everything."

The Agent McCall gave the Sheriff an acknowledging head nod.

* * *

Landon and Scott arrived in Stiles' mind, but found themselves strapped into beds with a modified "five point restraint" in a room that looked like Eichen House. They both struggled against the restraints to no avail. Landon could understand why he couldn't break free, but Scott...

"Do you actually need me to remind you that you're a _werewolf_?" Landon snipped at him in a whispered tone at Scott.

"We're in Stiles' head." Scott reasoned to him after another failed attempt of breaking free.

"And you're a _supernatural_ creature with supernatural _strength_." Landon reminded him, "Break free."

Scott made one more attempt before the restraints finally broke. Scott broke off his restraints and quickly broke off Landon's.

"What now?" Landon wondered.

"I don't know." Scott admitted. He looked around the room and sees a door, "This is my first time in someone else's head." He grabbed a hold of Landon and guided them to the door. "Just stay behind me." Scott directed Landon as he walked through the frame, but Landon doesn't get a chance to walk through because the door slammed in his face.

"Scott?" Landon started banging on the door, "Scott!" But he doesn't get a response. Instead, the sound of music began to fill the air. Soon one by one the room started to get filled with red, blue, and silver balloons.

Once, the room was cleared Landon found himself back in the school during the winter formal wearing his formal outfit, the same night he was attacked by Peter. "Jackson?" He called out running down the hall through the balloons. "Are you in here?" He then heard a loud scratching sound coming from one of the classrooms.

Instead of seeing Jackson, Landon came across the Nogitsune drawing the kanji for "self" on a blackboard. Landon quickly made his way back to the hallway.

Scott was suddenly in the closet at Allison's apartment. Both him and Allison were making out, when he pulled away. "I thought I heard something." Scott told her.

"It's okay. You're with me." Allison whispered to him running a hand through his hair, "Everything's fine." She assured him, "We just have to be quiet. Really quiet."

Back in the school hallway, the Nogitsune was making it's way towards Landon while slamming every locker that he encountered making growling noises. Landon immediately started to back away.

* * *

In the real world, "Look at that. Do you see that?" Melissa questioned the men, Landon's nose had started to bleed. Melissa then tried to reach over an unhook Scott's claws from his neck, but was stopped by Deaton.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Deaton advised her, but that doesn't stop Melissa from worrying.

"What's happening?" This time she looked over to Peter, who too had noticed the occurrence, "What is happening to him?"

Peter quickly knelled over to Landon, "Landon, can you hear me?" There was a quick small eye movement from behind Landon's eyelids, "Landon, you're stronger than this. Okay, you need to _concentrate_."

For a moment Landon doesn't breathe, "Landon." But he got no response. So Peter used his 'werewolf voice' shouting, "Landon!"

Inside Stiles' mind Landon could hear Peter's voice echoing through the halls. This time Landon stopped and faced the oncoming Nogitsune. "Concentrate." Landon mumbled to himself. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them. The Nogitsune was gone, but Landon was still in the hallway. He broke out into a run to the double doors at the end of the hallway.

Scott also heard the sound of Peter's voice in the closet. "Why are we in your closet?" Scott asked moving away from Allison.

"We're hiding."

"From who, your dad?" Scott remembered, something about them being it now was off.

"Don't worry about it.

"Doesn't your dad know we're together?"

"Shh. It's okay." Allison assured him with another kiss, "Don't worry."

It then dawned on Scott when this situation happened between Allison and him, "Allison, we're not together." He told her.

"What?" Allison questioned with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"We weren't together during..." Scott proceeded, "This is wrong. This is a trick." He looked at a fake furious Allison, "It's a trick." As Allison roared as Scott pushed through the closet door.

When Scott passed through the threshold he found himself in the same white room the same night he, Allison, and Stiles surrogated themselves for the Darach sacrifices. Landon also appeared by his side as well. They walked through the room.

It was filled with the familiar lighting and humming noises that Scott remembered. They didn't have to go far because in the distance, they could see Stiles and the Nogitsune sitting on the Nemeton stump playing "Go" a Japanese board game.

* * *

The werewolves had now stopped fighting each other and focused their attention towards Allison and Kira, "Remember," Allison instructed, "Try not to kill them."

"I was just going to try to stay alive." Kira told her. Ethan then aimed himself towards Kira, who managed to slice him with the blade.

"That works, too." Allison told her just as Isaac came at her.

When Isaac came at her Allison had lost the upper hand when her arrow missed Isaac. To make matters in worse she was having trouble reloading her crossbow as Isaac continued to make his way over to her. In retaliation, she kicked him out of the way, but Aiden started to make his attack on her.

"Allison!" Kira then tossed her the katana as Allison was able to kick over her crossbow to Kira, who has managed to load up the crossbow. Allison was able to block Aiden's attack just in time knocking him out the way.

Having a chance to regroup, the girls stood back to back prepared to take on all three werewolves. Kira with Allison's crossbow and Allison with the katana and the three werewolves growled at them.

* * *

Back in the Argent Apartment, Chris was still tied up to the chair with angry werewolf stalking around his room, "Why shouldn't I kill you? How many of us have you murdered?" Derek questioned him, "You're not my ally. You're a hunter."

"You're right. I am a hunter." Chris told him in a calm manner, "Trained before I could even speak, and trained others. Do you know what the first lesson we teach is?" Derek growled at him from behind the study desk, but it doesn't stop Chris from talking, "We take our children, we bind them in a chair just like this. Then we wait for them to get out. Most of them, it takes hours. Others? Seconds."

Not wasting a single second, Chris flipped over backwards, breaking the chair and freeing himself. He managed to grab a weapon from under the desk and drew on Derek, placing the weapon right under his chin. Derek roared in frustration.

"I don't want to kill you, Derek." Chris told him, "Stiles, your mate  _needs_ you." At the name Derek's body seemed to slightly relax, "Don't make me kill you. Please."

* * *

Back in Stiles' mind, calling out to Stiles didn't seem to work, so Scott and Landon attempt to run towards Stiles, but the distance between them didn't seem to close.

Scott and Landon both stopped out breath, "This isn't working." Scott told him, "We can't get close to her and it doesn't look like she can hear us."

"Almost like she doesn't know we are here," Landon said in a thoughtful tone, "Stiles is part of your pack." Landon told him.

"What?" Scott asked confused, "What do you mean?"

"She's  _human."_  Landon told him, "But she's  _still_  part of the pack, right?"

"Yeah." Scott agreed, looking at his friend still sitting on the Nemeton, "Yeah, of course."

"So how do wolves  _signal_  their location to the rest of the pack?"

Landon looked over and sees that Scott had transformed into his wolf form, "They howl." He responded. Scott released his mighty "Alpha" roar, which vibrated the floor and echoed throughout the room.

Sitting on the Nemeton, Stiles noticed that the game board shook. When she looked away from the game she sees both Scott and Landon waiting for her. She turned her attention back towards the Nogitsune, who waited for her to make the next move. Instead of making another move on the board she upended the game sending the Nogitsune into a rage.

The Nogitsune's roar also caused the room to shake as well as the effect of releasing all his "puppets." Ethan, Aiden, Isaac and Derek collapsed simultaneously each had a black viscous liquid pouring from their mouth and nose.

* * *

Both Landon and Scott gasped back into reality, "Did it work?" Scott questioned. However, he noticed that Stiles was still on the couch unconscious and made no movement. "What happened?" Scott began to panic, "Why didn't it work?"

"There's a second part for this to work," Peter told them calmly, "Though it someone may not be happy about it." He gave the group pointed looks. "Remember when the only thing that could save Jackson was for him to have someone to love."

"Now is not the time for a life lesson Peter." Deaton reminded him. "If you know something spit it out."

"You have to say her name. Her  _real_  name." This earned him some glances, "You have to say her real name if you want her back, but it can't be just anyone."

"It has to be someone that has a strong connection." Landon realized.

"Her dad isn't here and I'm sure Stiles has yet to share her real name with Derek." Scott told him.

"And that's why it has to be you." Peter informed him.

"Me?"

"You're her best friend. She may have a special connection with Derek, but the two of you share one as well. You're her best friend and she always ends up choosing you, even against her mate." Peter explained, "You're the one person, outside her family, who had to be able to actually say her name correctly."

"How did-" Scott questioned, "The last time I said it, Stiles stopped talking to me for a month."

"Scott," Landon snapped at him, "Now is not the time to worry about how she is going to punish you. Say her name damn it!"

"Alright," Scott replied quickly as he knelled down to the unconscious Stiles' unmoving body. "God, please don't kill me for this," Scott told his unconscious friend, "Mie-" He started to say confidently, but before Scott could fully say Stiles’ name, Stiles' eyes popped open and her body jerked and she began to coughing and fell to the floor.

She ripped the tape from her mouth and started to pull out a long strand of gauze bandage until there was a sizable pile on the floor of the McCall family room. Everyone watched in shock.

Suddenly black smoke issued forth as hand reached out of the gauze; it appeared to be the bandaged hand of the Nogitsune. Stiles watched in horror backing away as the figure crawled out of the bandage covered floor until it was fully formed.

The figure lunged itself forward and Scott and Peter rushed to hold it down, "Hold her." Scott told Peter.

"I'm trying." He countered back.

Upon, hearing their voices the figure seemed to stop fighting them, "Wait!" Scott sensed something was off. He removed the bandages from the creatures head - finding another Stiles underneath.

"Scott?" She asked in a small voice. "Where are they?" She asked, looking around the room in a panic. "Scott? Where are they?" It took a second for them to realize the Nogitsune, which also still looked like Stiles, had fled and taken Landon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys...It's getting closer to the season finale! Which will be Sept. 20th and 21st...Don't forget to comment on where you stand for season 4! Or you know just comment in general :D


	21. Insatiable pt.1

In the school showers, Deaton was trying to remove the Nogitsune flies from the werewolves' bodies, "Hold still." Deaton directed to Aiden. It was not an easy process considering how Aiden was fighting with Deaton completely, "Don't fight it." Peter ordered as well. He was trying to hold Aiden in place, but as expected the werewolf fought against him.

"Kinda hard to do when someone's hand is being shoved down your throat." Isaac said with some attitude.

"Isaac," Deaton told him, just as Aiden managed to throw-up the fly, "You're next."

"I'm aware." Isaac told them. His eyes still glowed the beta yellow as he was still trying to fight off the Nogitsune's compulsion. Deaton had finally gotten the fly out of Aiden and signaled Isaac to stand in the shower. He stood in between Deaton and Peter nervously, "All right?"

Without a warning, Deaton stuck his hand down his throat repeating the same process with him, only problem was Isaac was more of a fighter than Aiden, "Isaac, stay still." Peter growled at him. The beta only growled in response as his eye continued to glow the yellow.

"Almost there." Deaton told him, "Got it." Deaton shared as he removed his hand from Isaac's mouth. Isaac went into a coughing fit just as the twins did.

"Are they okay now?" Peter asked Deaton.

"I hope so." Deaton told him, "The part that's worrisome, is that this was most likely just a  _distraction_  for what was happening to Stiles."

"There's really two of them now?" Ethan asked with disbelief.

"How's that even possible?" Isaac wondered.

"And how did the other one just take Landon?" Aiden questioned.

"When we turned around and they were gone." Deaton explained to the wolves, "So was his car."

"So no one notices her just kidnapping him right out of the house?"

"Most of us were concentrating on the bizarre sight of a creature, materializing from out of the floor." Peter told them.

"Hold on." Isaac interrupted them, "How are you so sure which Stiles is which?"

"That's what they're trying to figure out now."

* * *

"Well..." Melissa McCall said, while examining Stiles on Scott's bed, "Medically, you seem okay. You're definitely a real person." Melissa told her, "Do you want me to call your father and Derek."

"Okay, so I'm real, but am I  _really_  me?" She asked them. "I don't want them here unless we are absolutely sure."

In that moment, Scott appeared in the doorframe, "Is she here?" She asked him.

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's do this." Stiles told him, but Melissa and Scott gave her unsure expressions, "Guys, we have to do this." She told them.

Scott helped Stiles down the stairs where Noshiko Yukimura was waiting for her. Once, she was all the down the stairs Stiles managed to make her way over to the woman by herself. Stiles gave her an uneasy look. "Do you recognize me, hmm?" Noshiko asked her.

"Stop." Kira told them as she rushed into the McCall living room. She looked at her mother pointedly.

"It's okay." Stiles assured her, "I'm the one who asked her to come."

"You're the one who's going to get _stabbed_ with swords." Kira pointed out. She turned her attention to her mother, "Mom, don't do this to her." Kira begged.

"It's already done." Noshiko told her. Two Oni appeared in the McCall's living room and quickly grabbed the back of Stiles' neck.

Stiles gasped in shock and felt her body trying to move back. It was impossible to do as the other Oni had a grip on her arms. Stiles looked right into the demon's eyes glowed firefly yellow and they easily let go. As she fell to the floor, they vanished.

"Look behind her ear." Noshiko ordered to Scott. Scott quickly got to the floor of his fallen friend and angled her neck to where the kanji for "self" was burned.

"It worked." Scott announced to the room. Both Melissa and Kira made sounds of relief. Even Noshiko seemed a bit relieved.

"So, I'm actually me?" Stiles asked with some relief.

"More you than the Nogitsune." Noshiko told her. Scott helped Stiles off the floor.

"Can The Oni find her?" Kira asked.

"Tomorrow night." She explained to them, "It's too close to dawn now."

"Can they kill her?"

"It depends on how strong she is."

"What about Landon?" Stiles asked worriedly, "Why would she take him?"

"She would only take him for an advantage."

"You mean his power?" Scott questioned.

"The power of a Reaper."

* * *

In the tunnels under the old Oak Creek Internment Camp, Landon could hear the screams of all the people who died there during WWII. It was really hard for him to drown them out. "Can you hear them?" A voice asked from behind him. Landon looked over in the direction of the voice and sees the Nogitsune/Stiles leaning against the wall, "Louder than usual, isn't it? Well, that's because a _lot_ of bad things happened down here." She said looking at the wall with some remembrance.

"What are the voices telling you?" She taunted at him, "Are they saying that Stiles is dying?" She started to make her way over to Landon, who quickly started to back away, "She is, you know. She's dying."

"Then what do you need me for?" He yelled at the fox demon, "You think I can tell you something?"

Stiles just laughed in response, "Oh, I  _know_  you can."

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"You won't have to." She said pointedly, "You'll be  _screaming."_

* * *

At the Yukimura household, Kira was getting restless while Noshiko pulled out a game board, "How are they going to find her?" Kira asked pacing around the room, "And what are we supposed to do until then?" Noshiko continued to set up the board, "Sit around and wait?"

"Sit and learn."

Kira looked at the board with bewilderment, "You want to teach me how to play a board game?" Kira's voice dropped at her, "Now?"

"Scott said he saw Stiles and the Nogitsune playing the game of Go." Noshiko told her, "That's a very important detail. Perhaps, even  _crucial."_  Noshiko reasoned and gestured to the board, "Play starts with an empty board. Black is always placed first. Then white. You place stones to create  _territories._  
_And_  you capture your opponent's stones by completely surrounding them."

Upon the explanation, Kira was too agitated to listen, "This is life and death, Mom!" Kira shouted, "It isn't a game."

"It is to her and she's winning." Noshiko pressed at her, "You want to save your friends? You want them to survive? Learn to play."

Kira looked at her mother unsure, but Noshiko gestured for her to sit down and learn. If this could save her friends, Kira was willing to do just about anything.

* * *

At the Sheriff's station, the Sheriff was still awaiting word on Stiles, until he got a visitor at the door, "Go home, Sheriff." Deputy Parrish told him, "If anything comes up about Stiles, you know I'd call you in a second."

"I'm not going anywhere." The Sheriff told him.

"Well, neither am I since my shift doesn't end until dawn." Parrish told him with a smile, "You need a coffee?"

"Aw, you're a good guy, Parrish." The Sheriff told him, "That's what they all said at your previous station." He praised him. Then he gave him a curious look, "Though no one could tell me exactly why you left."

"Maybe I needed a change." He offered to his boss, "I don't really know." He said with a wondering look, "I guess...I kind of felt _drawn_ here. And I knew there were openings."

"Do you know  _why_  there were openings?"

"The statistics don't worry me." Parrish assured him, but he looked at one of the wanted signs for the Oni. "They worry me."

"Me too."

"Well, then maybe you need to get some sleep." Parrish pressed, once more. "Go home, Sheriff." The Deputy told him just before leaving the room.

"Ah, If I could just find my keys." The Sheriff mumbled to himself.

"In your coffee cup." A familiar voice told him. "You always drop them in your empty cup."

He turned to see both Scott and Stiles standing in the doorframe of his office door.

Stiles doesn’t even move as The Sheriff rushed his way to embrace his daughter.

"Hey, Dad." Stiles muffled into his shirt.

"Is it over?" He asked Scott.

Scott shook his head, "Not yet."

* * *

Derek visited Chris Argent, "You had a gun pointed at my head." Derek told him, "You could've pulled the trigger. Why didn't you?"

"Because you're not my enemy anymore, Derek." Chris told him simply, "And I'm not yours."

"The truth is that we should be out there looking for her. Right now." Derek told him. Derek had been caught up with the developments of the Nogitsune and he couldn't be more relieved that Stiles was actually back, but they weren't out the woods yet. She had a doppelganger roaming around with Landon in tow. "Especially if she can do something like this."

"I'm not sure that's actually going to be necessary." Chris shared with him.

"Why not?"

"Because if she can do something like this-"

"She's stronger than ever." Derek realized, "Which means she'll be coming for us."

* * *

Back at the Sheriff's station, "We got an APB out on Landon's car." The Sheriff told them after he got off the phone, "Every unit on the road is looking for him."

"Isn't there anything else that we could do?" Scott questioned them.

"At this hour?" The Sheriff said with some struggle, "No, not really."

"She took him for a reason, Dad." Stiles said to her father. Stiles had a worried look on her face.

"Look, If we can figure out the why, then we'll figure out the where." He assured her, Stiles simply nodded, but didn't look absolutely convinced, "What would a Nogitsune need with a Reaper?"

"I don't know," Stiles answered, "Landon's pretty good at  _finding_  dead bodies."

"Maybe she needs to find a body?"

"Scott, you know more about this than all of us." The Sheriff pointed out.

"Me?" Scott wondered looking confused.

"You said you got the  _whole_  story from Noshiko?"

"Yeah, but that happened during World War II." He pointed out, "Like 70 years ago."

"Wait." Stiles interrupted them. She looked at her friend, "What did you say?"

"Noshiko told me about the internment camp-"

"No, before that." She interrupted once more, "You said, the whole story." She said with realization.

"Yeah." The Sheriff said not exactly sure what to make of Stiles' behavior, "What is it?"

Stiles' mind flashed back to her stay at Eichen house; " _I should tell them. They're going to want to know the story. The whole story." Meredith said to a dead phone line._

"There's a girl at Eichen House." Stiles explained, "Her name's Meredith. I think she might be able to help."

In an instant the Sheriff got Parrish on the case with some quick results, "Sheriff, Meredith Walker." He handed him a small file.

"She's still there?"

"Yeah, but they moved her to the Closed Unit."

"Why?"

"They said behavioral issues."

"What issues?" Stiles asked already knowing the answer.

* * *

At Eichen House, The head orderly, Brunski, told them, "She wouldn't stop screaming." He said in a bored tone as they walked down the hall.

"Sounds pretty quiet now." The Sheriff remarked as they are being led down the unit.

"We had to send a guy down to sedate her." Brunski informed them, "Trust me, this little nutjob would not  _stop_  screaming." This time there was a hint of amusement in his voice, "But five mils of Haldol take her out like you wouldn't believe." He laughed until they noticed an unconscious orderly on the floor, "What the hell?" He demanded. It appeared that Meredith had somehow, managed to inject the orderly.

Brunski quickly checked over the orderly and noticed that something was missing, "She got his keys."

From behind them, Meredith was sneaking out of Eichen House from a secret passage.

* * *

Ethan and Aiden were running through the woods, trying to get a lock on Landon's scent, "Anything?" Aiden asked his brother when they paused for a break.

"No scent. No tracks. Nothing." Ethan told him. At the exact moment, a clicking sound filled their ears, "Did you hear that?"

"It sounds like-"

"A round being chambered." Ethan finished. He looked around and noticed that they managed to cross paths with an assortment of trip-wires, "Run!" They took off running just as bullets began to ping off the rocks and trees around them.

They both took several bullets and fell, "Wolfsbane." Ethan realized. Up ahead of him, he noticed that his brother was unconscious, "Aiden." Despite being shot Ethan managed to get to his brother.

* * *

Allison and Isaac came across an abandoned car in an abandoned lot, "That's it." She told Isaac as she broke the lock on the gate, "That's Landon's car."

"The scent's strong of emotion." Isaac told her when he took the smell of the air.

"Fear?"

"Anger."

"Sounds like Landon." Allison said without hesitation, "Let's see what else we can find."

Allison managed to break inside Landon's new car as she and Isaac both began to search through the compartments and visors. "Ah, just... Just out of curiosity, do you remember what happened the other night?"

"You mean, where I chained you to your bed?" Isaac asked, "Yeah, I remember."

"So that night, were you you, or were you not you?" She asked.

"I tried really hard to fight off," Isaac told her, "If that's what you're asking."

"It just has me worried that the Nogitsune has the ability to do something like that," Allison told him, "If it had control of you, why didn't it just you kill me right on the spot."

"At that time, there was only one Stiles, right?"

"Yeah."

"What if at some point the Real Stiles was able to somehow prevent the Nogitsune's influence me to do so." Isaac suggested. "Something that allowed her a little bit of control."

"Her desire to protect the pack," Allison realized. Isaac gave her a questioning look, "At the loft when Derek went charging at her it gained the upper hand, but when it threatened him it hit a barrier that surrounded him," She told him, "It was angry by the action and said it should've known that Stiles would've done something like that." Allison theorized, "The Nogitsune can't hurt us  _directly_."

"So there's a chance that it can't hurt Landon, either." Isaac shared, "Meaning we still have time to find him." There was a pause in the moment.

"Yeah, but it doesn't us get any closer to finding Landon. He didn't leave any clues. The only way possible is if he left one secretly."

"Didn't you and Scott have a way of secretly communicating?" Isaac asked, "During the Kanima incident?"

Allison knew he was talking the trick that she and Scott used and quickly breathed onto the driver's side window of the car revealing the words  _"DONT FIND ME"_  in the condensation, traced by someone's finger. They both exchanged mixed with confusion and worry.

* * *

At the school, Coach was talking angrily into his phone as his class started to fill up with his students, "Ten thousand dollars? They pulled an arrow out of my stomach." He yelled into the phone, "What did they do? Fill it up with diamonds?" The other person on the end of the line didn't appreciate his methods, "All right, fine. What..." He asked with disbelief, "Okay. Just send me the bill. Fine!"

He slammed his phone on the desk, "Okay, listen up kids." He told his now settled class, "Today we're-" Coach gets another idea, "You know what? Today we're going to discuss the  _corrupt_  institution of health care."

"Um, Coach." Danny said raising his hand, "We have an unexpected guest." He looked pointedly in at the spot where Landon would normally sit. Coach followed Danny's line of sight and noticed Meredith sitting at an empty desk.

* * *

Stiles had fallen asleep on the McCall's living room sofa covered with a blanket, when she woke up with a sudden start, "Hey!" Scott quickly rushed to her side, "You okay?"

"What happened?" She asked panicked looking around, "How long was I out?" She questioned trying to sit-up, but Scott pushed her back down on the couch.

"Just a couple of hours." He told her as she tried once more to sit-up, "But you should be laying back down."

"Where's my Dad?"

"He's at Eichen House, questioning everyone." Scott told her, "Looking for Meredith. I promised him I wouldn't let you out of my sight."

It seemed to have eased Stiles a bit, "Okay, what about the others?"

"Allison, Isaac, the Twins, they're all looking for Landon."

"It's starting to feel like we're waiting for a ransom call." Stiles told him fiddling with the blanket.

"We'll find him." Scott assured her, but he noticed exactly how much fiddling Stiles was doing, "You all right?"

"Yeah." She told him, still fighting with it, "I don't know why, I just can't seem to get warm."

"Take it easy." Scott instructed just as Stiles was close to falling off the couch. He took a hold of her by the arm and his werewolf pain absorption ability kicked in automatically, "You're in pain."

"It's not that bad." Stiles told him pulling away, "Just more like a dull ache. I'm able to block it out from Derek."

"Where?"

"Sort of everywhere." She confessed, but Scott didn't need his werewolf hearing to know when she was lying. She had that 'I know more than I'm telling' look on her face.

Scott touched her arm once again and this time he was hit by a chill, "Dude, you're freezing." He pointed out to her, "Tell me the truth. How much does it  _really_  hurt?" Stiles looked at him, like she was close to tears. Scott doesn't get an answer because Kira called Scott and explained that Meredith was at school.

* * *

Inside the classroom, the student have gathered around Meredith and Coach, "Sweetheart." Coach tried talking to Meredith, "Do you want to tell me which insane asylum you escaped from?"

"Coach, insane asylum isn't proper terminology anymore." Danny informed him.

"Okay. Sweetheart. What..." He struggled for another term, "What nuthouse did you escape from?"

"Eichen House." Meredith answered quietly. When she spoke the students who had gathered around to watch, all took a step back.

"Wanna tell me what you're doing so far from there?"

"Trying to help." She explained to him, "I can hear them." She whispered to him, "They scream."

"That's got to be terrifying." Coach said remaining in a calm manner, "What, uh... Why do they scream?"

"They scream when someone's about to die."

"Are they screaming right now?" He asked her leaning in, "How many of them?"

"All of them." She whispered at him.

* * *

Brunski and two other Eichen House orderlies arrived at school, just as Coach entered the hallway, Kira put together what was happening, "Coach. You can't let them take her back." She begged him, "It's hard to explain, but if you let her go back then really, really bad things are going to happen to Landon, to Scott and Stiles and maybe everyone, including you." She pointed out, "So please, please don't let them take her."

"Who are you?"

"Um... I'm Kira." Kira suddenly dumbfounded, "I'm new."

Coach noticed Brunski and quickly became uncomfortable, "Oh, hell."

"Finstock." Brunki said with a smile, "Coach Bobby Finstock. This is a  _delightful_  surprise." The tone in his voice said otherwise, "What is that saying? Those who can't do, teach?" He gave him a crooked smirk.

"Yeah, that's funny." Coach responded uneasily.

"Is it Professor Finstock when you're off the field?" Brunki asked continuing his downgrading, while Coach was suddenly started cowling as if he was being bullied, "I'm glad to see you made it pro something, Bobby."

"It's Coach." He corrected him, "Coach... You know... Professors teach college."

"Oh, well," He asked with feign surprise, "You let me know when you make  _higher_  education." Brunski mocked, "Now, Coach, where's Meredith?"

"She's fine." Coach said blandly, "She's just sitting in my office."

Coach opened the door to his office to hand over Meredith but she was already gone, "Find her!" Brunski ordered his orderlies.

* * *

Allison was dismantling the eyepiece on her large crossbow in the weapons storage area/workshop of the Argent's apartment building when her father appeared, "I had a feeling, you might be down here."

"I needed to do something." She explained, "I hate waiting."

"Where's Isaac?" Chris asked looking around the area.

"He's trying to help Scott."

"Leave it for now, huh?" Chris told as Allison struggled with a piece of the equipment, "I have something else you can do." He shared when Allison gave him a confused look, "Something we should've done a while ago." He gave her a bar of silver, "It's time for you to _graduate_."

* * *

Under Oak Creek, Landon had been trying to find a way out, but came across every exit blocked by bars. "They'll find me." Landon mumbled to himself, "My friends are going to find me." He groaned out aloud.

"You think so?" Nogitsune/Stiles asked appearing close to him, but Landon wasn't surprised anymore. She had been doing that entire time, "I myself, was kind of wondering what they're doing right now." She taunted at him.

"What useless lead they're chasing." She said with feign wonder, "I wonder if maybe some of them have  _bigger_  problems to deal with right now."

_At the McCall residence, Stiles is trying to sneak out by using her spark, but instead she nearly collapses to the floor, when Isaac appears to catch her before she fully falls._

"Are they really spending every minute looking for  _you_? Or... Are they waiting for nightfall?" It continued to theorize, "Focused on some hopeless gesture to pass the time."

_Still in the basement, Chris was getting some supplies gathered with Allison_

"What do you want?" Landon demanded.

"More."

"More what?"

"The Trickster stories are all about food, Landon." It hissed at her, "The Coyote, the Raven, the Fox. They're all hungry. I'm the same. I just crave something a little  _different_." It explained, "I eat what you  _feel_."

Stiles stepped closer to Landon and took a lick to his face, Landon whimpered in fear as Stiles gave him a wicked smile, "And I am  _insatiable."_

* * *

Meredith had found her way to the Beacon Hills High School Music room and was plucking the strings of the grand piano. She could hear whispers as the note dies away, "I can hear you. But I can't understand. Just a little louder, please." She told them with another pluck.

She was interrupted when Brunski appeared with the sound of him triggering his taser, "Let's go, sweetheart." He directed at her, "As you know, I'm not averse to using the tools of my trade. As  _often_  as necessary."

"I just... I need another second, okay?" She pleaded to him, "They're trying to tell me something." She turned back to the piano.

"Meredith." He told her in a warning tone.

"Please." She whispered into the piano, "They're  _trying_  to tell me something."

Brunski was about to attack when Coach arrived and managed to grab the taser and turning it back on the orderly, "This school has a very strict no bullying policy." Coach stated at the groaning man.

"Well?" He questioned Scott and Kira, who all were in the room as well, "Get her outta here." He ordered them. Scott and Kira took a hold of Meredith and exited the room.

"You little piece of-" Brunski started to just as Coach shocked him again.

"We also frown on cursing."

Once, Scott, Meredith, and Kira were in the safety of the McCall car, Scott turned his attention to Meredith in the backseat, "Where's Landon?" Scott asked her hurriedly.

"Who's Landon?"


	22. Insatiable pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The finale is tmrw guys!!! It's been fun guys see ya tmrw! Poll closes tmrw so don't forget to vote! Or just leave a comment if you want

Chris Argent and Allison were handling molten silver, "Remember, you can start over.” Chris reminded her, "I was a bit of a perfectionist about it, myself." He removed his silver bullet, "I always wanted the seal to look just right."

"How many did you make?"

"Six. But I used them all." He explained, "Only at close range, though. Despite some other legends, silver's not really as  _accurate_  as lead."

"Dad, wait. I think I should use my own mold."

"You have a bullet mold?"

"No, not a bullet. An arrowhead." She told him, "The bow is my weapon. So, I should make a silver arrowhead." She explained, but then her mood changed, "Dad... If something happens..."

"You don't need to worry about me." Chris told her.

"Well, yeah. I didn't get to say anything to Mom." She told him remembering she ignored her mother.

"You didn't need to say anything." Chris told her, "And I'm going to be around a long time. I promise."

"Well, then take it as a  _reminder."_  Allison told him, "Maybe you don't need to hear it, but I need to know that I said it. I love you." She told him with a smile, "I'm proud of you. I'm proud of us."

* * *

When Scott and Meredith arrived at the McCall house, they found Agent McCall waiting with Stiles and Isaac. Stiles gave Scott a pained look, "What are you doing here?" Scott questioned his father.

"I could ask you the same thing." Agent McCall said pointedly, "And I found Isaac and Stiles in the other room."

"Isaac lives here and it's free period." Scott said quickly, "We're doing group study."

"Who's she?" Agent McCall questioned towards Meredith.

"She's Scott's girlfriend." Stiles piped up quickly.

"He's not my type." Meredith stated quickly.

"Well, _obviously_ they have a lot to talk about." Stiles said before Scott could think of anything to say, "Probably should maybe take this upstairs." She hinted at them.

"He's my type." Meredith said with a smile directed at Isaac.

"Okay. Isaac, looks like you can come too." Stiles told him, by her side Isaac looked both confused and uncomfortable. With a hasty retreat, the three of them made their way up the stairs.

"Hey, Dad, I'll explain all of this later." Scott told him, trying to make his way up the stairs as well, but it doesn't go to plan as his father blocked his way.

"I don't care that you're not in school." Agent McCall told him, "I know your grades are fine. All I want to do is talk."

"Now's  _really_  not a good time."

"Scott." Agent McCall tried, "We need to talk."

* * *

In Scott's room, Stiles and Isaac had placed Meredith on the bed and questioned her about Landon's whereabouts, "Landon?" Meredith questioned, "You mean the red-haired boy."

"Yes!" Stiles said clapping her palms together, "Exactly, all you got to tell us where he is."

"Okay," Meredith said plainly with a head tilt, " _If_ he tells me."

"If he tells you?" Stiles questioned, "Can you just ask him?"

"I already did."

"Perfect. Perfect." Stiles repeated in a rush, "What did he say?"

"He said he  _doesn't_  want to be found."

"You have got to be kidding me." Stiles said with some disdain, "Landon, I swear to God."

* * *

Downstairs, Scott was having his own problem, "Dad, can't we do this tomorrow?" Scott tried again with his father, who has lead them into the living room.

"That's actually something I've been saying for a long time." Agent McCall told him, "You see this? This indent in the floor..." He pointed at a spot on the floor, "That was from your head. The night before I moved out your mother and I were fighting. You came out of your room. I grabbed you by the wrist. You pulled back. And you fell." He told Scott, "We watched you tumble down those stairs. You were out for probably 20 seconds." His voice turned ragged, "When you came to, you didn't remember a thing. Your mom told me to be out by the morning. That was the last time I ever had a drink. And that's why I left."

Scott suddenly looked angrier after his father told him the truth, "Okay, Dad. Let me show you something." He pulled his father by a window, "See the edge of this window sill. When I got my first skateboard I slid right into it. Broke my collarbone."

He pointed at the middle table in the living room, "This used to be glass. Until I fell on top of it trying to catch a lacrosse ball from Stiles. I got three stitches in my cheek." He pointed at his face, "This house is  _full_  of accidents. The stairs? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it was worse. But I  _healed_. I don't need your apology." He told him, "So... See you at graduation. Or whenever you decide to show up again." Scott told him.

* * *

In the woods, Ethan was helping Aiden as they continue to try to find shelter in the woods. Derek arrived and picked up Aiden and instructed Ethan to run as more bullets smashed into the trees nearby. It didn't take long as Derek and the Twins had managed to take cover in a hidden cave, "Just how many traps did she put out there?" Ethan questioned Derek.

"She's not exactly sure." Derek told them, "But she managed to give me a clear path."

"Any ideas on how she got so many Wolfsbane bullets?" Aiden asked.

"Broke into the Argent armory." Derek explained, "I'm going to get you guys some help."

* * *

"I'm just saying." Isaac said defensively leaning against Scott's dresser.

"Isaac, we're not going to torture her." Stiles told him, looking at Meredith, who looked a confused and possibility frightened, "Had I known how much Derek rubbed off on you I'd get you out of the loft sooner."

"I meant  _scare_  her." Isaac said with his arms crossed.

"We're not going to  _psychologically_  torture her either." Stiles told him.

"Fine." Isaac caved in, "How about this? You said she hears things, right?"

"Yeah."

"Doesn't that mean she's like Landon?" Isaac questioned, "A Reaper?"

"In her case, she's a Banshee, but yeah same thing." She turned her attention back to Meredith getting an idea. Stiles easily made her way over to Meredith as Isaac followed along. Meredith looked at them wide-eyed, "I want you to try something." Stiles told her knelling down, "Can you do that for me?" Meredith gave her a simple head nod. "Okay, close your eyes and just try to focus on the sounds around you." She instructed Meredith, who had easily complied.

"On what you're hearing." Isaac inputted.

"Just  _focus_  on the silence." Stiles told her.

" _Listen_  to the silence."

"Focusing on the silence." Stiles directed to Meredith.

"Listening to the-"

"Okay," Stiles said in an annoyed tone and turned to Isaac, "Will you just let me handle this, baby beta. Please? I just... I have more experience with speakers of the dead."

"Yeah." Isaac remarked, "And mental patients." Stiles gave him a glare and was ready to retort back when Meredith interrupted them.

"Isn't anyone going to get that?" She asked them.

"Get what?" Stiles asked confused.

"The phone."

"What phone?"

"Your phone." Isaac told Stiles nudging at her in the side.

"My phone?" Stiles questioned as Meredith gave her a nod, she quickly pulled out her silent phone, but fake answered it anyway, "Yes. Hello. Yes, she's actually sitting right here. It's for you." She handed the phone over to Meredith.

Meredith appeared to listen intensely into the phone before she hung it up, "They say Coup de foudre." She shared with them.

"Coup de what?" Stiles asked confused, "What is that Spanish?"

"French." Scott appeared at his doorway, "It's French."

* * *

At the Yukimura's home, Kira was looking for her mother, "I don't know where she is." Mr. Yukimura told when Kira came across him, "But I do know she's trying to keep you out of this for as long as possible."

"Well, she should've thought of that before she had me  _magically_  rebuild a samurai sword." Kira told him with some frustration.

"I know a lot of this is going to be very strange for you." He told her in a soft tone, "You're going to need to learn a lot very quickly, Kira."

"Yeah. Like board games?" She pointed at the "GO" board that was still set up.

"In Korea we call it Baduk." He explained to her, "There are different styles of play. Aggressive. Passive. Orthodox."

"Can you tell who's who?"

"I know you're black." Her father told her pointing over the board, "The novice player always goes first."

"The white's the Nogitsune." Kira told him.

"But these stones are placed in your mother's style." He informed her indicating the board, "Aggressive."

"Yeah, but she put them down to represent the Nogitsune."

"Are you sure about that?"

* * *

Allison had finished her arrows with a comment, "What am I missing?" She wondered looking at it. She doesn't figure it out when Scott called her, "Scott?"

"We know where Landon is." He told her. She immediately readied her weapons and left.

_Noshiko and five Oni break through the gates of Oak Creek._

Back in the loft, Derek and Chris have managed to get the twins in the loft, who were still bleeding black goo from the wolfsbane bullets, "Here are the leftovers from the ones that didn't get fired." Derek told him handing over the bullets. "We think at some point she probably materialized her way in."

"Just be happy it's the only thing she took." Chris told him wearily. In that moment, Chris received a phone call.

"They found him." Allison's voice echoed through the speaker, "Scott and Stiles found him, Dad." She said with complete relief, "They found Landon. I'm on my way."

"Allison, hold on." Chris told her, "You have to wait."

"I can't, Dad." She said hurriedly.

"Allison, wait for me." He pleaded to her.

"There's no time. It's already night." Allison informed him, "There's no time, Dad."

"Wait, Allison!" Chris yelled to her, but she had already hung up the phone. Chris looked at the phone as if it had insulted him.

"We gotta go," Derek said in a faint tone, "We gotta go now."

* * *

As Scott, Stiles and Isaac made their way to Oak Creek, Scott noticed that Stiles looked a bit pale and more distraught than usual, "Hey, you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Stiles told him with a small smile, "You don't have to worry about me."

"All right, I'll say it." Isaac pointedly to them, "You look like you're dying. You're pale, thin and you look like you're getting worse. And we're all sitting here thinking it." He declared at her. Scott smacked Isaac on the shoulder, but Isaac ignored the gesture. "When we find the other you, is she gonna look like she's getting better? What happens if she gets hurt?"

"You mean if she dies, do I die?" She asked him, "I don't care. Just so long as no one else dies because of me. I remember _everything_." Her voice dropped lowly, "I do, Scott. I remember pushing that sword into you. I remember twisting it."

"It wasn't you." Scott told her.

"Yeah, but I  _remember_  it." Stiles shared with them, "You guys gotta promise me, because I doubt Derek would do this, but you  _can't_  let anyone else get hurt because of me."

Underground, the tables had turned for Landon, "You're nervous, aren't you?" He noted at the Nogitsune/Stiles' nervous ticks, "You know they're coming." He told her with a smile, "You know they're going to  _kill_  you."

"Well, that's exactly why I'm keeping you so close." Stiles told him as she led them into a small room.

* * *

Allison and Kira, Scott, Isaac, and Stiles arrived at Oak Creek, "We've done this before, guys." Scott told him, "A couple of weeks ago we were standing around just like this and we saved Micah, remember? That was a  _total_  stranger." He encouraged them, "This is Landon."

"I'm here to save my best friend." Allison shared with them.

"I came to save mine." Scott said looking at Stiles.

"I just didn't feel like doing any homework." Isaac joked breaking the tension, earning him a smack on the head from Stiles.

As they walked through the gate, they were approached by Noshiko, who had two of the Oni by her side, "Kira, turn around and go home." She ordered her daughter, "Take your friends with you."

"I can't." Kira told her mother as Scott and Stiles made their way through, "When I looked at the game I realized who I was actually playing." She said pointedly, "You." Her mother gave her a knowing smile, "Call them off."

"You think you could take her alive?" Noshiko questioned her daughter, "You think you can save her?"

"What if we can?" Kira told her not budging.

"I tried something like it 70 years ago." Noshiko reminded her, "Your friend is gone."

"Are you sure?" She challenged, "Or if Stiles doesn't have to die. Maybe Rhys didn't have to die either?"

"I see I'm no longer the Fox now, Kira." Her mother answered, "You are. But the Nogitsune is still  _my_  demon to bury." The Oni disappeared around her.

In the concrete room where they were held, "They're here." Landon taunted, "And I don't need to scream to know that they're going to kill you."

"Good." Nogitsune/Stiles snapped back, "Because that's  _exactly_  why I brought you. I needed to know when they'd be close enough. When my own death closing in." Five Oni appeared in the cylinder, "'Cause only when they're close, can I do this." Stiles broke the dagger.

Above ground Noshiko looks startled, "Mom?" Kira questioned. Noshiko opened her hand to find a firefly there. It quickly disappeared in a puff of black smoke, "What does that mean?"

"It means there's been a change in ownership." Nogitsune/Stiles appeared from black smoke with five of the Oni behind her, "Now they belong to me."

* * *

Scott and Stiles found Landon in the holding cell that Nogitsune/Stiles held him in. "Landon! Thank God you are okay!" Stiles claimed as they reached the door.

Landon, who had been facing the wall turned around and sees them on the other side of the caged door, "No. No, no, no." He started chanting looking between Stiles and Scott, "Why are you  _here_?" He asked in shock and surprise.

"Landon, we're here to save you." Scott told him just as he struggled to break open the door.

"You weren't supposed to be here." Landon told him in a panicked voice, "You didn't get my message?"

"Landon, what's happening?"

"Who else is here?" He asked them quickly, not answering the question, "Who came with you? Who else is here?"

* * *

Kira was fighting the Oni with her katana, as Isaac fought with his claws, and Allison fired arrow after arrow.

"How do we stop them?" Isaac questioned Noshiko, who had taken cover.

"You can't!" Noshiko told in the chaos. When Isaac turned back one of the demons sliced him across his chest.

* * *

"Someone is going to die!" Landon all, but screamed at them. Scott and Stiles looked at him wide-eyed.

"Landon, are you sure?" Stiles asked.

"I have the feeling, Stiles!" He yelled, "We have to get to the surface now."

Scott, Stiles, and Landon rushed to the surface, but the chilled feeling Landon had kept getting closer, "We're not going to make it." Landon realized.

"Do you know, who it is at least?" Scott questioned as they continued rushing through the tunnels.

"It's Allison." Landon said in a tearful manner, "It's going to be Allison."

Scott casted a look over at Stiles seeing a look spreading across her face, while noticing the darkness in her eyes. He knew exactly what Stiles was thinking. "Stiles, don't!" Before, Scott could even stop his friend, Stiles had faded out right in front them.

* * *

Two Oni were slicing at Isaac, from both sides. Allison continued to fire her bow, trying to get them off Isaac but they still don't have an effect. Kira was still fighting off an Oni of her own.

Allison grabbed a hold of her last bow and, just before what would have been the death blow for Isaac, fired at the Oni. The arrow penetrated in the demon's chest and the firefly light began to shine around it. Isaac fell to the ground, completely wounded, but alive.

From behind an abandoned car Nogitsune/Stiles looked shocked by the result.

The ground began to shake as the Oni disappeared in a mass of black smoke. Allison smiled but as she turned another Oni appeared already closing in on her. Just as the Oni willed out it's blade, Allison recognized a figure materializing taking the blade's attack.

The Oni surrounding the lot disappeared after the impact was made and Stiles held onto her side with the very bloody opened wound.

"Stiles!" Allison yelled.

Scott and Landon both made it to the surface in time to see the sword in Stiles vanish as well. Scott quickly rushed over to her just before she fell to the ground. "Why would you do that?" Scott asked his friend, "You know using it weakens you."

"I couldn't…let you lose her Scott. Is she alright?" Stiles asked him. Scott gave her a nod. Her breathing was ragged, looking up at him. This time her eyes were back to her normal light brown. "Do me a favor."

"Anything."

"Take the ring off."

"Stiles…I don't think it's necessary. I'm not getting any pain from you." He started to shake his head, "Besides it'll break-"

"That's the point." Stiles grunted cutting him off, "Take…it…off." Stiles' left hand was already covered with blood to keep the wound from bleeding out. "Please, Scott just do it...It may not hurt me, but it'll hurt him...He has lived through the pain…with his family dying, along with his pack…he doesn't need to be reminded of the pain...Please Scotty...I can't block him." She begged to him. With some hesitation, Scott removed the ring and Stiles lets out a huge breath.

"Stiles-" Allison said with a breaking voice, kneeling down by her side. It wasn't just Allison either. Kira and Isaac were on the ground with them as well.

"You would've done the same thing." Stiles told her. "I can feel it healing shockingly...I'll be fine in a couple of hours." She told them, just before she slipped into unconsciousness. Just outside the gates Chris and Derek appeared, seeing Stiles' unconscious body Derek released a loud wolf howl as Stiles' previous words from the loft flooded through his head,  _I may do something stupid, but in case I don't see you before this is over I love you._  


	23. The Divine Move pt.1

Derek slowly made his way through the gates trying to process what he was seeing right in front of him. Stiles had taken a blade to the stomach and it looked like she wasn't breathing at all, but he could hear the sound of her heartbeat. He tried to remain calm, but he could smell the blood that filled the air. Her blood mixed with the others. He dropped to the ground, where Scott still held onto her. Scott easily handed her over to him. Her skin felt cold and she looked paled.

"She's still alive," Scott told Derek, "Unconscious, but alive." Scott repeated. He kept his voice calm for not only his sake, but for other's as well.

"You idiot," Derek told Stiles quietly, "This was beyond stupid and passed borderline recklessness, I haven't seen or heard from you in days and you  _that_  was the first thing you say to me? You go and do something like this." He rubbed his hand against her face, "Scaring not only me, but your pack as well."

"Derek-" Scott started to say, but Allison placed a hand on his shoulder giving him a head shake.

"Don't you die on me you hear me," Derek continued in a whisper, "If I can't die on you, you can't die on me. That's our number one rule." Derek's voice echoed into the night, "Besides I told your Dad we weren't going to lose you. You're all we have left." He bumped his head against hers, "I love you," Derek found himself saying, "And I'm sorry it took something like this for me to actually say it." He placed a kiss on her lips, but doesn't get a response, but he does hear a skip in her heart. That familiar skip that always happened when he kissed her.

He looked up at Scott, "You'll take care of her?"

"Of course," Scott told him, "But what are you going to do?"

Derek handed Stiles over him, "I'm going to protect your pack."

"You mean  _our_  pack," Scott corrected him, "I don't know where you got this mentality that you don't belong to this pack, because you do. You are just as part of this pack just as much as Stiles." Scott explained to him, "I know she asked you to us protect, but that doesn't mean you have to do it alone. We work better together as a team. We always have. And we always will."

With that statement, Scott flashed him the Alpha red eyes, but it wasn't out of power. It was out of acceptance. Derek could feel his eyes glow their usual blue as Isaac's glowed the beta yellow and Kira's glowed the kitsune orange. Allison held up her bow and Landon giving him a head nod beside her.

"You said so yourself Derek," Scott told him, "We're brothers."

* * *

A couple hours later, Stiles woke-up with a start as she found herself at the Yukimura household. She noticed that her wound had been healed up, but that still didn't help with the dull ache she felt not only from that, but from her own body as well, "Where's Derek? Where's my ring?" She asked noticing her bare left hand, "Is he is okay? Is everyone still okay?" Stiles asked in a panic.

She attempted to get up, but Kira appeared from behind and pulled her back down, "He has it. Derek is fine. Everyone is okay." Kira told her, but Stiles still attempted to move until Noshiko appeared blocking her way.

"You need to relax." Noshiko handed Stiles a small cup, "Here, it'll calm you."

She took the cup with some uncertainty sniffed the drink with some suspicion, "What is it?"

"Tea."

"What? Like magic tea?" Stiles taking another sniff.

"No, chamomile tea." Noshiko looked at her as if she was offended, "Drink it." Stiles took a sip of the tea without any complaint.

"She's not safe here." Kira told her mom in a worried tone sitting on the arm seat.

"She's not safe anywhere."

"Allison killed one of them." Stiles reminded them, "Doesn't that mean something?" Stiles asked Noshiko, "She killed an Oni. Is that even possible?"

"I'm not sure how." Noshiko told them.

"But she did it." Kira pressed at her. "She killed  _one_  of them."

"And one  _tried_  to kill her, but I took the blow instead," Stiles pointed out. "The question is why am I not dead."

"I don't think she wants you dead just yet." Mr. Yukimura told her as he appeared from the kitchen with tea for everyone else. Stiles was slightly thankful for that. "She made a powerful move by splitting the two of you."

"So what's our move?" Kira asked her parents.

"At this point, you need a _divine_ move." Mr. Yukimura told them.

"What's that?" Stiles asked.

"In the game of Go, it's what we call a truly inspired, or out-of-the-box move." He explained, "The Nogitsune has had sente, the advantage, until this point. What you need is a divine move in order to turn the game around."

"I don't know about you but I'm not really feeling divinely inspired." Stiles shared with them.

"Mom, you said you trapped it in a glass jar, right?" Kira asked.

"It wasn't the jar that trapped it." Noshiko told her, "It was where I buried it."

"The Nemeton." Stiles whispered.

"A place I don't know too much about."

"Who does?" Kira asked.

"Deaton." Stiles said knowingly, "Deaton does."

* * *

Allison, Chris, and Isaac arrived at the Argent apartment just as Allison got an update from Kira, "Stiles has healed up."

"That means the Nogitsune probably doesn't want her dead yet." Chris told them.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Isaac questioned at him.

Chris looked at the two teens in front of him. "At this point I'm not even sure." He admitted to them, "And with the Oni under it's control it's not looking good."

"But there is way to defeat them," She told Chris, "I managed to get one of them with my bow."

"Yeah, but we don't know how." Isaac told her.

"Actually I have an idea." Allison shared with them.

* * *

At the loft, Both Derek and Peter used a zippo lighters to cauterized Ethan and Aiden's wounds at the loft, "Should be fine in a couple of hours." Derek told Ethan as he finished up. "Like Chris said, it could have been worse."

But that doesn't stop the twins from being ready the leave the loft, "Landon's with Scott." Aiden said as they headed toward the door, "We need to go." He said instantly, looking at his brother.

"Are you gonna try to convince him to go with you?" Peter questioned him causing the twins to stop and turn to him.

"I'm gonna try and convince him to run and hide." Aiden told him. Even though it was sort of the plan, "Like any _sane_ person would do."

"And Danny?" Derek questioned at Ethan.

Ethan had the same idea as well, "The Nogitsune has control of the Oni," He reminded him, "One tried to kill Allison and Stiles is  _still_  dying. What do you think?"

"I think Danny won't believe you." Derek said calmly at Ethan.

"And Landon would never run and hide." Peter said looking over at Aiden.

"Because of Stiles?" Aiden questioned.

"Because of Scott." Derek corrected him, "You've been trying to find a way into Scott's pack. Trying to earn his trust, trying to fight for him." He explained to them, "You've had it wrong the whole time."

The twins looked at him with confused expression, but Derek continued on, "You don't fight for a leader. You fight for a leader's  _cause."_

"What cause?" Ethan questioned at him.

"Scott's always been about one thing. Saving his friends. He will do anything and everything to save the people he cares about." Derek told them remembering the Kanima incident, "When there's no chance of winning, he keeps fighting. When all hope is lost, he finds another way. And when he's beaten down, he stands up again."

"Stiles is the same way," Peter said to them, "Even before the spark. She punched me in the face when I was the Alpha. She has tried protecting everyone even before the Nogitsune had completely taken over. Scott and Stiles live in the morally bland world. It has nothing to do with trust when it comes to the pack. It's about the morals that we have and the three of us, haven't had the best history with them."

Derek stood in front of the twins and his uncle, "So you want to  _earn_  a place in his pack?" He looked at both Ethan and Aiden, "You want  _redemption?"_  He looked at Peter, "Find another way to stand and fight."

* * *

Both Scott and Landon visited Deaton once again at the animal clinic, "Stiles and Kira said it was the Nemeton that kept it trapped." Scott told him.

"The problem is this isn't even a person you're fighting." Deaton told them, "It just looks like one. It's a spirit that's taken the shape of a human."

"The shape of my best friend."

"Someone caught it once." Landon shared, "Someone can do it again, right?"

"I don't know." Deaton admitted, "This thing was trapped a long time ago, before the Nemeton was cut down. It doesn't have the same power anymore."

"Is there anything that does?"

"Possibly." Deaton shared, "When the tree was whole, its wood was sometimes used to contain powerful objects. But those objects are very rare."

"Powerful objects?" Landon questioned as he remember the box that Peter had. "Like an Alpha's claws?"

"Which Alpha?" Scott asked looking at Landon with a surprised expression.

"Talia Hale." He told them, "Peter had them in this wooden box with a triskele carved on the lid. What if it was made from the Nemeton?"

"It was." Deaton said knowingly.

"How do you know?" Both Scott and Landon asked the vet.

"Because I made it."

* * *

Nogitsune Stiles walked into the front of the hospital, "Hi, there." She said to the confused orderly, "Could you page Melissa McCall for me, please?" After she asked her question two Oni suddenly appeared by her side.

The orderly looked in shock, but didn't get a chance to answer as the Oni on Stiles' right side stabbed him with his sword. Stiles watched the orderly dropped dead and looked at the Oni to her right, "Well, I guess I'll just find her myself."

In a manner of seconds, chaos has erupted through the hospital. The only warning that the people had was the sudden force of wind that blew through the hospital corridor. The two Oni that stood side by side were now in front taking down every nurse, doctor, and orderly. Some were luckily as to get out of the way in time, while others attempted to stop them. But it was useless. Nogitsune Stiles enjoyed watching one nurse who continued to attempt to get out the way after already being stabbed. She continued to look onto the scene with a small smile playing on her face, while the air was filled with screaming and terror.

The hospital wasn't the only place that was having an Oni problem.

At the Sheriff's station both the Sheriff and Deputy Parrish see an Oni laying on it's back. As Sheriff and Deputy Parrish maneuvered to get a better look, it jumped up and started to attack them. Parrish and the Sheriff fire repeatedly, but the demon managed to cut them both. Their wounds released a black smoke as it disappeared.

* * *

Back at the hospital, both Melissa and Agent McCall were talking in an elevator, "I just think it would be better if it came from you." Agent McCall told her. Melissa gave him an irritated look and a heavy sigh.

"So I tell Scott that his dad went back to San Francisco, says he's sorry," She repeated his statement, "but he didn't have time to say goodbye?"

"Right." He told her, "Then I'll send a follow-up email or something."

"You're an idiot"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Seriously?" She questioned him, "You say that you want a relationship with your son. You can't just bail after one fight."

"He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you." Melissa told him, "He just wants you to try harder."

The elevator lights began to flicker and as it machine stuttered to a stop, "What's going on?"

"I don't know."

They get their answer when the door opened and witnessed two Oni still killing people in the hallway.

At the sound of the elevator, the Oni then turned their attention to the McCalls and swing their swords at them and Agent McCall managed to get a hold of his weapon and starts firing his it. He managed to get the doors closed, but realized that Melissa had somehow been cut by one of the swords. She had a deep cut on her leg, where it also released a thin black smoke.

* * *

Chris, Allison, and Isaac were back in the basement, where Allison had made her silver arrows, "Do you remember when you told us about one of your first gun deals, the Yakuza?" Allison asked her father. Chris gave her a peculiar look, but nodded his head. "The bullet that you used to shoot the Oni. Was that a silver bullet?"

"Yes, but it didn't kill him. It just broke his mask." He reminded her, "Probably went straight through."

"What if it needs to stay inside?" She asked him, "What if silver is _poison_ to them?"

Isaac could see where this was going, "Like it did at Oak Creek."

"Exactly, that last arrow I used was made of silver. It stayed in and poisoned it from the inside." Allison shared with taking out her four remaining silver bullet.

"We could stop them."

"No." Chris told them, "We can kill them."

* * *

Scott and Stiles arrived at the school on his dirt bike when Landon and Kira arrived as well, "The Argents and Isaac think there is a way to stop the Oni." Scott shared with them as they all gathered around.

"Derek's got the triskele box." Stiles shared with them holding onto Scott, "He's gonna meet us."

Landon began to hear some distant whispering. It wasn't the whispering that was bothering him. It was what was being said.

"Landon," Kira asked, snapping him out of his daze. "What's wrong?"

"Something's happening." She told them, "I had this sudden rushing feeling, like we're running out of time."

"Yeah." Stiles agreed. She had been getting the same feeling as well, "I kind of got that feeling, too."

At the Sheriff's both the Sheriff and Deputy Parrish were recovering from their attack, "What the hell happened?" The Deputy asked his boss.

"They left." The Sheriff told him as they got from the floor, "They just... They left." They both had received a cut to the arm.

"Why did they let us live?"

"I'm not so sure they did." He confessed as he looked at his cut that still had black smoke coming from it.

As they rushed to the entrance of the school Stiles halted at the door, "Wait a minute," She told them just before they opened the door to the school, "I know what you're all thinking. If this works, it might kill me, too." She said to them plainly. "But even if it does, you have to go through with it." She looked at Scott. "Stick with the plan, okay?"

"The plan is to  _save_  you." Scott told her pointedly. They had fought about it earlier, "That's the plan I'm going with."

When they pushed through the doors of the school they were somewhere else. They found themselves in a snow-covered Japanese Garden. "Oh, this is definitely not part of the plan." Stiles commented.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it looks like season 4 is go guys! Just one question should I bring Malia/Micah back? That's probably the biggest worry I have right now? Let me know what you think!


	24. The Divine Move pt.2

Back at the hospital Agent McCall wasn't getting much luck with calling a response time. In fact, it seemed like everything had been shut down and Melissa wasn't doing any better. Her breathing was short and the wound on her leg was still bleeding and releasing that black smoke, "Call Scott." Melissa groaned on the floor as the Agent knelled down beside her, "You need to call Scott."

"You're gonna be all right." Agent McCall assured her remembering back when she helped tend to his wounds.

"That's not what I mean." Melissa said in a faintly breath.

"Melissa, I need to get you out of here." He told her ignoring her protesting look, "I'm gonna help you to your feet, okay?"

"Raf, Listen to me." She told him as he struggled to get her on her feet, but it didn't work so he settled on trying to keep the wound from bleeding any longer.

"You're gonna be fine."

"If something happens, you need to work it out with Scott."

"Melissa-"

"You just need to try again."

"I tried to apologize."

Melissa couldn't help, but roll her eyes at the statement, "He's a teenage boy." She said in a soft tone, "He doesn't care about apologies. He wants you to do better. And he probably wants you to suffer a little." Agent McCall looked at his ex-wife with a look of shock, "Promise me you'll make it work."

"Okay."

"Okay." She said with a smile, "Now let's get out of this elevator."

Rafe then helped her to her feet once again without a struggle this time. As they opened the doors, the hallway was filled with bloody bodies and the screams of the wounded.

* * *

Derek approached the main stairs from out of the tunnel that lead to the athletic fields at the school. He sees Stiles sitting on the stairs with two Oni stand higher up and to either side of her. Wordlessly, Derek sat the "triskelion box" on the pavement.

"Did you bring us a present?" Stiles taunted at him. It was the same taunting voice she had used in the loft.

"I brought three." Derek said in a steady tone as Peter, Ethan and Aiden appeared by his side. All four werewolves had their fangs and claws out.

"Oh, you even brought Uncle Sketch," It said looking at the sight, "I've heard of an Alpha pack, Derek," She said with a smirk, "but not a pack of  _former_  Alphas. It's a little sad, isn't it?"

"I might not be an Alpha anymore," Derek said to the Nogitsune, "but I can still fight like one."

He, Peter and the twins roared as the Oni swung their swords and the fight began.

* * *

Inside the school, Scott, Kira, Landon and Stiles found the snowy garden to real. But they're not alone when the Nogitsune, bandaged and bomber jacketed, entered doing an odd little moonwalk. This time Stiles wasn't alone in seeing the figure.

"Like I promised, Stiles." The Nogitsune called to her, "We're going to kill all of them. One by one." Suddenly the group found themselves surrounded by the Oni as they appeared until there were four surrounding Scott, Kira, Stiles and Landon.

"What the hell is this?" Scott asked already wolfed-out, "Where are we?"

"Between life and death." The banged Nogitsune told them cryptically.

"Bardo." Landon realized easily.

"But there are no peaceful deities here, Landon." The Nogitsune told him. The Nogitsune turned his attention on Stiles who was being supported by Landon, "You're dying, Stiles." He told her, "And now everyone you care about is dying, too."

"What?" Stiles panicked, "What do you mean?"

"I gotta say your little barrier you placed on your wolf. It was impressive." It told her, "But while I may not have been able to hurt him physically and personally, I have other ways of doing so."

That's when Stiles' mind flashed to the battle back at Oak Creek where the Oni was able to actually hurt everyone, "The Oni."

"I've captured almost _all_ of the territories on the board, Stiles." It shared from the arch, "The hospital. The Sheriff's station. And now the animal clinic."

_Deaton is attacked by two Oni. He fights them off, but still ends up getting sliced before they vanish._

"Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?" The Nogitsune asked her.

"No, and I don't want to."

The Nogitsune ignored her and continued on, "When a samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honor, but that's not the cut that kills him." Which made sense considering how Stiles was still alive, but still close to knocking on heaven's door.

"The killing stroke is made by his kaishakunin," This time the Nogitsune turned his attention to Scott, "Who beheads the samurai with his own katana."

"Scott." She realized.

"Scott is your kaishakunin. I was going to make it be that wolf of yours, but with your  _infuriating_  meddling, the plan changed." The Nogitsune said in what could've been passed for bitter tone, "So I figured the next big thing." It smiled showing it's metal sharp teeth, "I'm going to  _make_  your best friend kill you, Stiles." It raged at her, "And you're going to let him. Because just like you, they're all going to die. Everyone touched by an Oni's blade. Unless Scott kills you first."

"Why?" She shivered, "Why are you doing this?"

"To win the game." It growled back at her.

* * *

At the Sheriff's station both Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Parrish remained on the floor, "Keep your eyes open." The Sheriff told him. Deputy Parrish simply nodded before his eyes closed, "Deputy!"

Deputy Parrish popped his eyes opened quickly, "What is this?" He questioned as if he wasn't close to passing out, "Is this poison?"

"Whatever it is," The Sheriff noted the black smoke still coming out his wound, "It's working fast."

Agent McCall managed to get Melissa on a stretcher, "Don't leave him again." She told him, "Promise me?"

"You told me to leave."

Melissa shook her head at the statement, "I told a  _drunk_  to get out of the house." She explained to him, "I didn't tell his father to get out of his life. You came back to make it up to him, right?"

"I came back to make it up to both of you."

* * *

Outside the school, Chris, Allison and Isaac pulled up and only see the left behind vehicles, "Where the hell are they?" Allison panicked.

"Scott's bike is here." Chris told her, "They have to be somewhere." The Argents looked around the campus, but it was Isaac who could hear what was going on inside the school.

"In the school." Isaac told them, but he could also hear another fight that was happening on the outside as well, "The others are here and it's not sounding too good."

"What should we do?" Allison asked him.

"I don't know," Isaac realized, "That's up to you Allison."

"Me?" She asked in shock.

"You're a leader, just like Scott." He told her, "So lead us." Allison looked towards the school and back at her father and Isaac. She heard a howl fill the air.

"Let's go." She told them.

* * *

Back by the main stairs, the Hales and the Twins were still facing off with the two Oni. Just like the Nogitsune inside the school, Stiles was watching the battle as well. One of the Oni had managed to get a blow on Ethan, who fell to the ground, but quickly recovered, "This can't be real." Ethan told the others as they all were still unable to destroy them.

"Yeah, tell that to them." Aiden told his brother. Derek had one of the Oni by the neck before he broke it. Of course, he knew that he hadn't completely destroyed it, but had managed by them some time.

"You have to get on the box." Peter roared at them, "Someone get on the box!"

As Aiden moved to pick up the "triskelion box" two more of the Oni appeared as they blocked, him, "I hate ninjas." Aiden growled as the trio were now up against four Oni.

* * *

At the hospital, Melissa's condition seemed to have worsened as blood appeared on her lips. This cause Agent McCall to panic.

"Hey. Hey, there's blood at her lips." Agent McCall shouted as the chaotic hallway, "What does that mean? There's blood." He tried to whip the blood away, but it seemed useless, "What does it mean?"

A fight had finally broke out between the Oni. The garden filled with the sounds of Kira's katana and Scott's growls as they battled the four Oni as the Nogitsune watched, but the four Oni managed to get gain the upper hand against Kira and Scott. Kira lost her katana in the snow, but it was Stiles, who recovered the sword, only she was aiming at it herself.

"Stiles, no!" Scott shouted at his friend. On the sideline the Nogitsune released a growl.

"Stiles." Kira tried as well.

"What if it saves you?" She asked them, "What if it saves all of you?"

"What if it's just another trick?" Landon countered as well.

Stiles shook her head, "No more tricks, Landon."

"End it, Scott." The Nogitsune directed to the Alpha wolf, "Let your friend fall on her own sword." Scott looked panicked at Stiles who had nothing, but a look of determination on her face. "Do for her what she cannot do for herself." The Nogitsune pressed, "Do it, Scott. Be her kaishakunin."

The Nogitsune continued it's taunt aiming at Stiles, "Give up the game." It told her, but while the Nogitsune was taunting Stiles something had caught her attention. In the reflective surfaces of the katana, she noticed a "Business" textbook lying in the snow. Looking from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a snow-covered classroom desk in one corner of the garden. "You have no moves left." The Nogitsune finished.

"I do." She told him, just as she tossed Kira's sword back at her, "A  _divine_  move."

* * *

Ethan and Aiden continue to fight alongside Peter and Derek, but they were losing ground, "We can't do this, we can't beat them." Ethan realized as he delivered another blow to an Oni. He turned his attention to his brother, "Take the box. We'll hold them off!"

Derek had been struggling with one of the Oni. It's sword was very close to cutting him, when it suddenly exploded into a black smoke. The only thing that remained was an arrow.

"What was that?" Aiden asked.

"Silver." Allison said from the shadows alongside with Chris. From the overpass Isaac back-flipped into the fray, just as Nogitsune/Stiles ran off.

"Isaac, the box." Derek told him, "Get the triskele box to Scott!"

* * *

Back in the garden, the strength Stiles had earlier was disappearing and her body continued to shake, "Stop fighting them." She told Scott and Kira, which of course earned her some confused looks, "It's an  _illusion_. You have to stop fighting them." The Nogitsune released a snarl, "It looks real and it  _feels_  real, but Scott, you gotta trust me, it's an illusion."

The group looked at each other, before Kira sheathed up her blade and Scott returned to his normal self. All four of the face the Oni.

"We'll be okay." Scott told them. Stiles, Landon, Kira both nodded at him and they processed to the double doors. The Oni line up and slash at all of them as they walked toward the doors. Blood filled the snow, but all remain standing and pushed through to the Nogitsune. Scott pushed it back through the door and into the school hallway. They are alone in the school. There's no more snow, no more Oni and no more Nogitsune.

"We're okay." Scott told them. "We're-"

But he gets caught off guard as Nogitsune/Stiles appeared and threw him into a locker and knocked Kira down. After Nogitsune/Stiles was done with her assault on the wolf and kitsune, she turned her attention towards the real Stiles and Landon.

"This was my game." She gritted at them, "You  _think_  you can beat me at  _my_  game?" She questioned at them. Landon and Stiles quickly backed away as Nogitsune/Stiles took a step toward them.

* * *

There was only one remaining Oni left in the main lot. Chris shot at it with his gun to slow it down, while Allison ready her bow one last time. However, it didn't go as planned when the Oni managed to realize what was happening and slice the arrow in half.

"Get the arrow." Allison shouted, "It's the last one."

Aiden grabbed hold of the arrows and stabbed the Oni with the arrow, but he was also sliced by the demon's sword in the process. His werewolf blue eyes flickered before the glow leaves them.

"Aiden!" Ethan cried out to his brother, just as the wound has black smoke coming from it.

* * *

Inside the school, Nogitsune/Stiles was pissed, "Divine move." She ranted at Stiles and Landon, "Divine move. You think you have any moves at all?" She questioned now charging, "You can kill the Oni. But me?" She snapped at them, "Me? I'm a  _thousand_  years old." She yelled at them, "You can't kill me!"

"But we can change you." Landon told her.

"What?" Nogitsune/Stiles said stopping off guard.

"You forgot about the scroll." Stiles told her weakly, "The Shugendo scroll."

"Change the host." The Nogitsune/Stiles realized.

"You can't be a fox and a wolf." Stiles told her.

From behind, Scott appeared catching the Nogitsune off guard and proceeded to bite her on the arm. When he finally lets go, Kira stabbed her through the heart with her katana.

Both Stiles and Nogitsune/Stiles scream as the outside was filled with a roll of thunder surrounding the school as the lights flickered. A fly suddenly buzzed out of Nogitsune/Stiles' mouth and started to fly down the hall.

Just when it looked like it was about to escape, the "triskelion box" came out of nowhere and Isaac, holding it and trapped the evil fly inside.

The Nogitsune/Stiles body began to twitch and jerk. Suddenly it stills as it started to dry out and crack like clay, collapsing into a pile of dust on the floor which quickly dissipated to nothing.

Those who had been sliced by the Oni suddenly appear to be fine. Melissa McCall snapped awake. Her wound now shallow and superficial.

Deaton's wound looked like it was healing as he started to fix up the clinic.

The Sheriff and Deputy Parrish stand, just as the wounds disappeared. Deputy Parrish gave the Sheriff a questioning look, "Welcome to Beacon Hills." The Sheriff told him.

Aiden's wound began to heal as well, leaving both him and his brother relieved.

* * *

Stiles had collapsed to floor, but when she woke-up she found herself in Landon's lap surrounded by the Scott, Kira, and Isaac. "Oh, God, I fainted, didn't I?" She joked with them. She looked at the familiar faces, "We're alive." She said as it sunk in, "We all alive?" She asked Scott.

"Yeah." Scott told her with a smile, he turned his attention down the hall and Stiles sat up to see Derek, Peter, the twins, and the Argents at the end of the hall.

"We're okay." She whispered to herself.

* * *

At school, Landon and Aiden were watching Ethan making his way over to Danny, "Will it be safe for him?" Aiden asked Landon.

"Danny's a smart boy," Landon told him, "Plus, he can handle himself. After all, good relationship always starts with honesty."

"Easy for you to say. You're a Reaper."

"And you're a werewolf."

Danny was a bit surprised when Ethan appeared out of nowhere, "I... I like you." Ethan told him, which caused Danny to smile at him, "A lot. You're incredibly good-looking. And smart and sweet. And-"

Danny cuts him off with a kiss. When he pulled back Danny has a look of satisfaction on his face, while Ethan looked confused at him, "Wow, didn't know a werewolf was so easy to fluster." Danny commented at him.

Ethan looked alarmed, "You knew?" He asked.

"Dude, it's Beacon Hills." Danny replied, before putting up his last book, "Besides my best friend turned into a giant lizard. It would be dangerous of me not to know."

"So you're okay with dating a werewolf?"

"As long as he doesn't disappear for three weeks. I'm golden." Danny closed his locker and placed a kiss on Ethan once more before heading off to his next class.

On the other end of the hall, Scott, Allison, Kira, and Isaac watched the exchange, "So do you trust them now?" Allison asked Isaac as they watched Aiden and Landon walk hand in hand to class. Scott had his arm around Allison, who leaned on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Isaac found himself saying, "I think all my anger out on them. Plus, Stiles told me I need to work on forgiveness."

"Speaking of Stiles, where is she?" Kira asked him.

* * *

Derek was pacing around Stiles' unconscious body on his bed at the loft. She had been taken out of the water hours ago. All she had to do was close her door.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Derek mumbled to himself. He could feel his eyes glow. Deaton had explained to him that Stiles had to die again and it would take time. But time was something that Derek felt like he didn't have.

He was so deep in thought, he almost miss Stiles suddenly waking up with a start. Derek quickly rushed to her side as she tried to get up, "Easy there," Derek said taking a hold of her, and pushing her back down. "Did you do it?"

"Yeah," Stiles told him. "Nothing like dying twice." She joked.

 _I love you_  Derek's voice echoed through her head, Stiles pulled away from him, leaving Derek surprised at the action.

"Even after what I did?" She asked, "Throwing you against the wall and hurting innocent people."

"I've hurt people too. Innocent people. People I knew."

"She doesn't count." Stiles told him, the name went unsaid. "I killed people."

"That wasn't you."

"I know," She struggled, "It just doesn't make me feel any better."

"Hey," Derek whispered to her, feeling the guilt flooding off, "We'll get through this together. Stiles gave him a head nod, but Stiles couldn't find herself to look at him. Derek gently cupped her face and lifted to where she looked at him, "I still love you," He told her, "I'll still love you know matter what happens. I meant what I said those months ago. You and me."

"And our pack?"

Derek gave her smile with a head nod, "And our pack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, for those who ended TW with season 3b the series is finished for you. However, for those who continued onto season 4 there's an alternate ending coming up tmrw! Thanks for all the support guys! It's been a Hale of a ride!


	25. The Alternate Move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on bringing Malia/Micah back for season 4? Leave a comment and let me know what you think! Anyways here's an alternate ending for season 3B Enjoy!

Scott and Stiles arrived at the school on his dirt bike just as Derek, Kira, and Landon arrived as well, "The Argents and Isaac think there is a way to stop the Oni." Scott shared with them as they all gathered around.

"Peter's got the triskele box." Derek shared with them supporting Stiles on his back, "He's gonna meet us."

Landon began to hear some distant whispering. It wasn't the whispering that was bothering him. It was what was being said.

"Landon," Kira asked, snapping him out of his daze. "What's wrong?"

"Something's happening." Landon told them, "I had this sudden rushing feeling, like we're running out of time."

"Yeah." Stiles agreed. She had been getting the same feeling as well, "I kind of got that feeling, too."

* * *

At the Sheriff's station, the Sheriff and Deputy Parrish were recovering from their attack, "What the hell happened?" The Deputy asked his boss.

"They left." The Sheriff told him as they got from the floor, "They just... They left." They both had received a cut to the arm.

"Why did they let us live?"

"I'm not so sure they did." He confessed as he looked at his cut that still had black smoke coming from it.

As they rushed to the entrance of the school Stiles halted at the door, "Wait a minute," She told them just before they opened the door to the school, "I know what you're all thinking. If this works, it might kill me, too." She said to them plainly. "But even if it does, you have to go through with it." She looked at Scott and Derek, but mainly at Scott. "Stick with the plan, okay?"

"The plan is to _save_ you." Scott told her pointedly. They had fought about it earlier, "That's the plan I'm going with."

When they pushed through the doors of the school they were somewhere else. They found themselves in a snow-covered Japanese Garden. "Oh, this was so definitely not part of the plan." Stiles commented.

* * *

Back at the hospital Agent McCall wasn't getting much luck with calling a response time. In fact, it seemed like everything had been shut down. Melissa wasn't doing any better. Her breathing was short and the wound on her leg was still bleeding and releasing that black smoke, "Call Scott." Melissa groaned on the floor as the Agent kneeled down beside her, "You need to call Scott."

"You're gonna be all right." Agent McCall assured her remembering back when she helped tend to his wounds.

"That's not what I mean." Melissa said in a faintly breath.

"Melissa, I need to get you out of here." He told her ignoring her protesting look, "I'm gonna help you to your feet, okay?"

"Raf, Listen to me." She told him as he struggled to get her on her feet, but it didn't work so he settled on trying to keep the wound from bleeding any longer.

"You're gonna be fine."

"If something happens, you need to work it out with Scott."

"Melissa-"

"You just need to try again."

"I tried to apologize."

Melissa couldn't help, but roll her eyes at the statement, "He's a teenage boy." She said in a soft tone, "He doesn't care about apologies. He wants you to do better. And he probably wants you to suffer a little." Agent McCall looked at his ex-wife with a look of shock, "Promise me you'll make it work."

"Okay."

"Okay." She said with a smile, "Now let's get out of this elevator."

Rafe helped her to her feet once again without a struggle this time. As they opened the doors, the hallway was filled with bloody bodies and the screams of the wounded.

* * *

Peter approached the main stairs from out of the tunnel that lead to the athletic fields at the school. He could see Stiles sitting on the stairs with two Oni standing higher up and to either side of her. Wordlessly, Peter sat the "triskelion box" on the pavement.

"Oh, look it's Uncle Sketch." She said to him, "Did you bring us a present?"

"I brought two." Peter said in a steady tone as both Ethan and Aiden stepped out of the shadows. All of them had their fangs and claws out.

She had a hint of amusement on her face, "I've heard of an Alpha pack, Peter," She said with a smirk, "but not a pack of _former_ Alphas. It's a little sad, isn't it?"

"What's really sad is how you let a  _human_  trick you so many times," Peter said to the Nogitsune, "I don't have to be an Alpha to fight like one."

Peter and the twins roared as the Oni swung their swords and the fight began.

* * *

Inside the school, Scott, Kira, Landon, Derek and Stiles found the snowy garden to be real. But they're not alone when the Nogitsune, bandaged and bomber jacketed, entered doing an odd little moonwalk. This time Stiles wasn't alone in seeing the figure.

"Like I promised, Stiles." The Nogitsune called to her, "We're going to kill all of them. One by one." Suddenly the group found themselves surrounded by the Oni as they appeared until they were all surrounded.

"What the hell is this?" Scott asked already wolfed-out, "Where are we?"

"Between life and death." The banged up Nogitsune told them cryptically.

"Bardo." Landon realized easily.

"But there are no peaceful deities here, Landon." The Nogitsune told him. The Nogitsune turned his attention on Stiles who was now leaning on Landon, "You're dying, Stiles." He told her, "And now everyone you care about is dying, too."

"What?" Stiles panicked, "What do you mean?"

"After that little surprise barrier you placed on your wolf, I figured you placed on your little pack as well. I may not have been able to hurt them personally, but I have other ways."

That's when Stiles' mind flashed to the battle back at Oak Creek where the Oni was able to actually hurt everyone, "The Oni."

"I've captured almost all of the territories on the board, Stiles." It shared from the arch, "The hospital. The sheriff's station. And now the animal clinic."

_Deaton is attacked by two Oni. He fights them off, but still ends up getting sliced before they vanish._

"Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?" The Nogitsune asked her.

"No, and I don't want to." She said back to it.

The Nogitsune ignored her and continued on, "When a samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honor, but that's not the cut that kills him." Which made sense considering how Stiles was still alive, but still close to knocking on heaven's door.

"The killing stroke is made by his kaishakunin," This time the Nogitsune met Derek in the eyes, "Who beheads the samurai with his own katana." It pointed easily at Derek, "Derek is your kaishakunin." The Nogitsune said a menacing tone, "I'm going to make your mate kill you, Stiles." It raged at her, "And you're going to let him. Because just like you, they're all going to die. Everyone touched by an Oni's blade. Unless Derek kills you first."

Stiles could see Derek's body stiffen, "Why?" Stiles asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"To win the game." It growled back.

* * *

At the Sheriff's station, Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Parrish remained on the floor, "Keep your eyes open." The Sheriff told him. Deputy Parrish simply nodded before his eyes closed, "Deputy!"

Deputy Parrish popped his eyes opened quickly, "What is this?" He questioned as if he wasn't close to passing out, "Is this poison?"

"Whatever it is," The Sheriff noted the black smoke still coming out his wound, "It's working fast."

Agent McCall managed to get Melissa on a stretcher, "Don't leave him again." She told him, "Promise me?"

"You told me to leave."

Melissa shook her head at the statement, "I told a drunk to get out of the house." She explained to him, "I didn't tell his father to get out of his life. You came back to make it up to him, right?"

"I came back to make it up to both of you."

* * *

A fight had finally broke out between the Oni. The garden filled with the sounds of Kira's katana along with both Derek and Scott's growls as they battled the four Oni as the Nogitsune watched, "How is this happening?" Scott asked Kira, "How are we in this place?"

"You're asking me?" Kira asked as she managed to kick an Oni away, "A month ago, I'd never even touched a sword."

Outside the school, Chris, Allison and Isaac pulled up and only see Scott's dirt bike and Landon's car, "Where the hell are they?" Allison panicked.

"Scott's bike is here." Chris told her, "They have to be somewhere." The Argents looked around the campus, but it was Isaac who could hear what was going on inside the school.

"In the school." Isaac told them, but he could also hear another fight that was happening on the outside as well, "The others are here and it's not sounding too good."

"What should we do?" Allison asked him.

"I don't know," Isaac realized, "That's up to you Allison."

"Me?" She asked in shock.

"You're a leader, just like Scott." He told her, "So lead us." Allison looked towards the school and back at her father and Isaac. She heard a howl fill the air.

"Let's go." She told them.

* * *

Back by the main stairs, Peter and the twins were still facing off with the two Oni. Just like the Nogitsune inside the school, Stiles was watching the battle as well. One of the Oni had managed to get a blow on Ethan, who fell to the ground, but quickly recovered, "This can't be real." Ethan told the others as they all were still unable to destroy them.

"Yeah, tell that to them." Aiden told his brother. Peter had one of the Oni by the neck before he broke it. Of course, he knew that he hadn't completely destroyed it, but had managed by them some time.

"You have to get on the box." Peter roared at them, "Someone get on the box!"

As Aiden moved to pick up the "triskelion box" two more of the Oni appeared as they blocked, him, "I hate ninjas." Aiden growled as the trio were now up against four Oni.

At the hospital, Melissa's condition seemed to have worsened as blood appeared on her lips. This cause Agent McCall to panic.

"Hey. Hey, there's blood at her lips." Agent McCall shouted as the chaotic hallway, "What does that mean? There's blood." He tried to whip the blood away, but it seemed useless, "What does it mean?"

* * *

Inside the garden, the four Oni managed to get gain the upper hand against Kira, Scott and Derek. Kira lost her katana in the snow, but it was Stiles, who recovered the sword, only she was aiming at it herself.

"Stiles, no!" Scott shouted at his friend. On the sideline the Nogitsune released a growl.

"Stiles." Derek tried as well.

Stiles looked over at Derek, "What if it saves you?" She asked him, "What if it saves all of you?"

"And what if it's just another trick?" Landon countered as well.

Stiles shook her head, "No more tricks, Landon."

"End it, Derek." The Nogitsune directed to him, "Let your mate fall on her own sword." Scott looked panicked at Stiles who had nothing, but a look of determination on her face. "Do for her what she cannot do for herself." The Nogitsune pressed, "Do it like you did for the other one. Be her kaishakunin."

The Nogitsune continued it taunt this time aiming Stiles, "Give up the game." It told her, but while the Nogitsune was taunting Stiles something had caught her attention. In the reflective surfaces of the katana, she noticed a "Business" textbook lying in the snow. Looking from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a snow-covered classroom desk in one corner of the garden. "You have no moves left." The Nogitsune finished.

"I do." She told him, just as she tossed Kira's sword back at her, "A  _divine_  move."

* * *

Ethan and Aiden continue to fight alongside Peter, but they were losing ground, "We can't do this, we can't beat them." Ethan realized as he delivered another blow to an Oni. He turned his attention to his brother, "Take the box. We'll hold them off!"

Peter had been struggling with one of the Oni. It's sword was very close to cutting him, when it suddenly exploded into a black smoke. The only thing that remained was an arrow.

"What was that?" Aiden asked.

"Silver." Allison said from the shadows alongside with Chris. From the overpass Isaac back-flipped into the fray, just as Nogitsune/Stiles ran off.

"Isaac, the box." Peter told him, "Get the triskele box to Scott!"

* * *

Back in the garden, the strength Stiles had earlier was disappearing and her body continued to shake, "Stop fighting them." She told them, which of course earned her some confused looks, "It's an _illusion_. You have to stop fighting them." The Nogitsune released a snarl, "It looks real and it feels real, but you gotta trust me, it's an illusion."

The group looked at each other, before Kira sheathed up her blade and Scott and Derek returned to his their normal selves. All five of them facing the Oni.

"We'll be okay." Stiles assured them. They proceed to the double doors as the Oni line up and slashing at all of them as they walked toward the doors. Blood filled the snow, but all remain standing and pushed through to the Nogitsune. Scott pushed it back through the door and into the school hallway.

They were alone in the school. There's no more snow, no more Oni and no more Nogitsune.

"We're okay." Scott told them. "We're-"

But he got caught off guard as Nogitsune/Stiles appeared and threw him into Derek causing both werewolves to be slammed into a locker and knocked Kira out with a single punch. After Nogitsune/Stiles was done with her assault on the wolves and kitsune, she turned her attention towards the real Stiles and Landon.

"This was my game." She gritted at them, "You think you can beat me at my game?" She questioned at them. Landon and Stiles quickly backed away as Nogitsune/Stiles took a step toward them.

There was only one remaining Oni left in the main lot. Chris shot at it with his gun to slow it down, while Allison ready her bow one last time. However, it didn't go as planned when the Oni managed to realize what was happening and slice the arrow in half.

"Get the arrow." Allison shouted, "It's the last one."

Aiden grabbed hold of the arrows and stabbed the Oni with the arrow, but he was also stabbed by the demon's sword in the process. His werewolf blue eyes flickered before the glow leaves them.

"Aiden!" Ethan cried out to his brother as he witnessed the stabbing.

* * *

Inside the school, Nogitsune/Stiles was pissed, "Divine move." She ranted at Stiles and Landon, "Divine move. You think you have any moves at all?" She questioned them while still charging at them, "You can kill the Oni. But me?" She snapped at them, "Me? I'm a thousand years old." She yelled at them, "You can't kill me!"

"But we can change you." Landon told her.

"What?" Nogitsune/Stiles said stopping off guard.

"You forgot about the scroll." Stiles told her weakly, "The Shugendo scroll."

"Change the host." The Nogitsune/Stiles realized.

"You can't be a fox and a wolf." Stiles told her.

From behind, Scott appeared catching the Nogitsune off guard and proceeded to bite her on the arm. When he finally lets go, Kira stabbed her through the heart with her katana.

Both Stiles and Nogitsune/Stiles scream. Outside a roll of thunder came over the school as the lights flickered and a fly came buzzing out of Nogitsune/Stiles' mouth and started to fly down the hall.

Just when it looked like it was about to escape, the "triskelion box" comes out of nowhere and Isaac, holding it and trapped the evil fly inside.

The Nogitsune/Stiles body began to twitch and jerk. Suddenly it stills as it started to dry out and crack like clay, collapsing into a pile of dust on the floor which quickly dissipated to nothing.

* * *

Those who had been sliced by the Oni suddenly appear to be fine. Melissa McCall snapped awake. Her wound now shallow and superficial.

Deaton's wound looked like it was healing as he started to fix up the clinic.

The Sheriff and Deputy Parrish stand, just as the wounds disappear. Deputy Parrish gave the Sheriff a questioning look, "Welcome to Beacon Hills." The Sheriff told him.

Stiles had collapsed to floor, but when she woke-up she found herself in Derek's lap surrounded by the Scott, Kira, Landon and Isaac. "Oh, God, I fainted, didn't I?" She joked with them. She looked at the familiar faces, "We're alive." She said as it sunk in, "We all alive?" She asked Scott.

"Yeah." Scott told her with a smile.

"We're okay." She whispered to herself.

Landon suddenly sensed something was wrong and abruptly stood up facing the double doors leading outside.

Outside, Ethan has his brother in his arms. Aiden had black goo dripping from the wounded mouth, "Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me?" Aiden asked his twin.

"Yeah." Ethan's voice broke.

"It's okay." Aiden said with a broken chuckle, "Landon never believed I was one of the good guys anyway."

Ethan placed his forehead against his brothers and shushed him. A few seconds later, Aiden died and Ethan released a roar.

In that exact moment, Landon walked out of the school in a daze and released a Reaper scream. When he came to saw the sight before him and turned back, getting wrapped into Stiles' arms.

* * *

Later in Derek's loft, the werewolves, the Reaper, and Stiles comfort Ethan.

At the Argent Apartment, Chris and Allison took a look around before they leave, "Are you sure you want to go?" Chris asked her.

"Yeah, we already talked about it." Allison told him, she has the "triskelion box" with her. Together they walked out the door.

At the school, Ethan and Danny were sitting on the steps, "I'm sorry." Ethan told him as he tried to break-up with Danny, "I just don't think I can stay."

Danny gave him a smile, "Actually, it's okay." Danny told him. Ethan realized that the tables had turned.

"You're breaking up with me?" Ethan asked surprised.

Danny laughed at Ethan's shock, "I... I like you." Danny told him taking his hand, "A lot." This made Ethan smile, "You're incredibly good-looking. And smart and sweet. And..." Danny struggled, "I…I just don't think I can do it."

“Date me?"

"Date a werewolf." Danny corrected him.

Ethan's face turned to more shock, "You knew?"

"Dude, it's Beacon Hills." Ethan gave Danny a tiny smile, before he gave him a kiss and leaves.

* * *

In her room, Stiles was clearing off her murder board, "Hey." The Sheriff's voice entered her room, Stiles turned to look at her father, "What're you doing?"

"Just, uh, clearing my head." She told him as she removed more papers and threads.

"You have a visitor."

"Who-" When she turned back to her father she sees Derek standing in the door frame.

"I'll leave you two alone," The Sheriff told them, "But Derek I expect to have dinner with you the very near future." With that statement, the Sheriff walked away.

When the Sheriff was gone, Derek stepped into her room, "So he didn't shoot you and you got a dinner invite," Stiles noted with a small smile, "Must be a good sign."

Derek smirked at Stiles' attempt to avoid the question he knew people had been asking her, "How are you feeling?" He asked her softly.

"Better." She told him, "No more sleep-walking, just haunted memories of what I did."

"That wasn't you."

"I know," She struggled, "I just hurt so many people I cared about and-"

 _I love you_  Derek's voice echoed through her head, Stiles looked at him in surprise.

"How can you?" She asked, "After everything I've done. All the innocent people I killed."

"I killed people too. Innocent people. People I knew."

"She doesn't count." Stiles told him, the name went unsaid. "I killed a lot more people than you."

"That wasn't you."

"I know," She struggled breaking the eye contact, "I just hurt so many people got hurt or worse and-"

"Hey," Derek cuts her off, "We'll get through this together. Remember you're not alone. You have me and our pack right behind you." Stiles gave him a head nod, but Stiles couldn't find herself to look at him. Derek gently cupped her face and lifted to where she looked at him, "I love you," He told her, "I'll still love you know matter what happens. I meant what I said those months ago. You and me."

"Our timing with these things suck."

"Well," Derek said and pulled her into a kiss, "We have time to fix that."

* * *

At the animal clinic Scott was cleaning up when Deaton walked in, "Have you ever heard the term "regression to the mean"?" Deaton asked getting Scott's attention.

"No."

"It's a bit of a technical way of saying things will always even out."

"Like things will always get better?" Scott asked with some doubt.

"More like things can't always be bad."

"So, no matter how bad things get-"

"Or how good."

"They always come back to the middle." Scott connected, "Regression to the mean. I'm not so sure that applies to a town like this."

Deaton lets out a small laugh, "Yes. You might be right."

* * *

A few weeks had passed when Stiles and Derek were in the locker room at the school, "It was a dream." Derek told her sitting on the bench with his hands folded, "It was actually... It was more like a nightmare."

"Okay." Stiles said leaning against the lockers, "What happened?"

"It started with these hunters that caught Peter and me after we left Cora. It was a family of them led by a guy named Severo." He explained to her, "They broke into my loft."

**DREAM**

The Spanish speaking hunters have track Derek to his loft and were once again demanding information, "Now, my friend, you're gonna tell us about la loba." Severo demands once again. He has his gun pointing at Derek and also has three other hunters with him, "Where is the she-wolf?"

"You should just go ahead and kill me." Derek tells him, "'Cause you're never going to find Cora."

"Cora?" Severo asks, "Who the hell is Cora?"

This confuses Derek and the hunter, but they do not get a chance to process each other's meaning. At that moment a smoke grenade flies in and the room fills with gas and the hunters begin firing wildly. They're taken out one by one with the assailant hidden by the smoke. Until finally all the hunters are down and the shotgun toting assailant steps out of the smoke and fires into Derek's gut.

**END DREAM**

"Who was it?" Stiles asked him.

"There's a lot of myths about how people can be turned into a werewolf. Usually a bite. There's one about rain water." Derek informed her.

"Drinking rain water out of the puddle of a werewolf's print." Stiles acknowledged knowingly.

"Also a scratch." Derek added.

"Yeah, but that's only if they go deep enough." Stiles reminded him, but she noticed an expression on his face. She sat beside him on the bench. She placed a hand on his arm, "Derek, if this is all just a dream, why do you look so worried?"

"Because I don't remember waking up." He told her making eye contact, "So tell me. How do you know? How do you know if you're still dreaming?"

"Your fingers, in dreams you have _extra_ fingers." Stiles told him. Derek easily removed the hand Stiles had on him and held them up. There were five fingers and a thumb on her hand. He looked confused before he suddenly had a rush of pain.

* * *

Whatever was going on between him and Stiles broke. Because Derek realized he was actually shot in the chest and dropped to his knees on the floor of his loft, "It's real." He gasped from the wound, bleeding from his mouth, "You're real."

Out of the smoke emerged Kate Argent, "That's right, Derek." She said with a crooked smile, "And if seeing me is a surprise, watch this." Her face goes all blue, her lips turned black, she grew fangs and her eyes take on a greenish hue.

* * *

Across town in her room, Stiles woke-up suddenly gasping pain, holding onto her chest, "Derek."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty guys! That's the alternate ending hope you liked it. Season 4 will start January 21st! I know such a long time, but with the changes I have to make for the next season I'm taking all the time I have free to work on it, So no fear I swear I won't forget. Hope to see you guys next year! 
> 
> Also come hang out with me on [tumblr](http://iKnightWriter.tumblr.com/) for sneak peeks for season 4!
> 
> Until then...
> 
> Byieeeeeeeeeeeee!


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